ACC: Tigers' comeback crushes Terps' spirit

Gary Williams stood frozen on the sideline after the final buzzer sounded, his hands on his hips and a blank stare across his face.

Who could blame him?

Maryland’s coach appeared to be in a daze after watching a season’s worth of hard work get jeopardized by 11 bad minutes. His Terrapins led Clemson 59-39 midway through the second half Sunday night at home, but they might have lost more than the game when Terrence Oglesby made a late 3-pointer to lift the Tigers to a 73-70 victory.

“It’s really tough to recover, especially given the situation,” said Williams, whose team clawed back into NCAA Tournament contention after suffering back-to-back home losses to Ohio and American in December. “It’s something that’s very difficult, and only teams with good character recover from a game like that. That can be devastating — there’s no doubt about that.

“But at the same time, we have to take responsibility for the game. They won; we let it go. Now we have to do something about it in a positive way.”

Clemson’s comeback provided the wildest finish in a week full of wild finishes across the ACC. In six consecutive games, the team trailing at halftime came back to win or force overtime. The top three teams in the league — Duke, North Carolina and Clemson — trailed on the road in the second half by 13, 18 and 20 points, respectively, before rallying to win.

Amazingly, the two highest-scoring performances in the conference this season went for naught. Boston College’s Tyrese Rice poured in 46 points Saturday against North Carolina, but the Tar Heels prevailed 90-80. Virginia’s Sean Singletary scored 41 points at Miami on Saturday, but his team’s late 9-0 run came up short in a 95-93 loss to the Hurricanes.

“To me, this past weekend shows what an amazing conference we have,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose Blue Devils trailed by seven points with 3:25 to play in their 87-86 win at N.C. State. “ … I just don’t see that happen in other conferences. I just wish we would celebrate the great quality of play that we have instead of looking at it as ‘Are we going to get four in or five?’ We should get as many as possible in the NCAA Tournament.

“This league is a terrific league, and it competes every night. I just hope that a large number of teams from our league get rewarded.”

That’s unlikely to happen.

Duke (25-3, 12-2), UNC (28-2, 13-2) and Clemson (21-7, 9-5) are going to play in the NCAA Tournament, and Miami (20-8, 7-7) likely needs just one win in games against Boston College and Florida State this week to join the party. But that still leaves Maryland, which now has more work to do after its collapse Sunday, and Virginia Tech as iffy.

The Hokies (18-11, 9-6), who defeated Wake Forest 80-58 on Tuesday night, finish their regular season Sunday at Clemson. The Terrapins (18-12, 8-7) go a week without playing a game before wrapping up their regular season Sunday on the road against an increasingly dangerous Virginia squad.

“It’s going to be hard to get over this, but we’re going to try our best,” Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez said. “This is hard to deal with. We won’t point fingers at anybody, and everyone will responsibility for their mistakes.

“We will move on. That is how it is. That is how sports are. You get another chance, and hopefully we get this win on Sunday.”

Another bad break for Clemson

As soon as James Mays was healthy enough to take off the brace he had been wearing for weeks on his left hand, Clemson suffered another key injury. Senior guard Cliff Hammonds broke his right wrist early in the second half against Maryland, putting in doubt his availability for games this week against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

“If he cannot play, it would be a tough blow, but we have faced this all year,” Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. “This team is used to dealing with adversity. Players like Demontez Stitt and others will have to step up their play.”

Hammonds, who has school-record streaks of 128 consecutive games and 124 consecutive starts active, was injured after making one of his trademark hustle plays. The 6-3 Hammonds raced back in transition to block a dunk attempt by Maryland 6-9 forward James Gist, and he hurt his nonshooting wrist while breaking his fall.

Hammonds kept playing despite the pain, helping the Tigers pull off a historic comeback at the Comcast Center.

Clemson has dealt with injury woes all season long — Mays missed time with a sore hip and his broken hand, and Sam Perry and Demontez Stitt each were sidelined after minor knee surgery — but the team can’t be at its best if Hammonds isn’t at his best. Hammonds is one of five players in ACC history with at least 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals, and Purnell called him “the finest leader and the finest student-athlete I’ve ever been around.”

Mays, meanwhile, looked like his old self after removing his hand brace at halftime against the Terrapins. He scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half and finished the game with nine rebounds.

Without the brace, Purnell said, “He’s able to catch the ball and do more things offensively.”

Mistake fuels rivalry’s fire

As it turns out, the remark by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski that triggered an angry reaction from North Carolina coach Roy Williams was reported incorrectly.

Radio station WRBZ misquoted Krzyzewski after Duke’s loss at Wake Forest on Feb. 17. The station’s transcript of Krzyzewski’s postgame interview with Duke announcer Bob Harris quoted Krzyzewski as saying that, “unlike other schools, we don’t release our injuries.”

Williams took the remark as a thinly veiled jab at his own team, which has been so injury-plagued that Williams has found himself answering questions about injuries at almost all of his media gatherings. Williams didn’t refer to Krzyzewski by name, but he responded on his own radio show to Krzyzewski’s alleged comment by saying that an unnamed person should “coach their own damn team.”

The radio station admitted its mistake Monday, saying the incorrect quote it posted on its Web site came from a reliable Duke source. The audio clip of Krzyzewski’s postgame interview with Harris after the Wake Forest game features Krzyzewski saying the following: “You know, we don’t put out our injuries, you know, but we’re injured too, you know. I mean, everyone’s injured.”

Krzyzewski expressed belief that the whole controversy was much ado about nothing, and he suggested that he would have needled North Carolina on a bigger stage if that were his intent.

“If I want to tweak somebody or do somebody, I’d do it in front of all you guys,” Krzyzewski said. “And I’m not saying I’ve never done that. But all that is so stupid. It’s just stupid. That’s about all I can say. It’s just stupid.”

Williams said he and Krzyzewski have not discussed the matter, but the coaches will have a chance to talk it out — if they choose — Saturday night when the Tar Heels travel to Durham to play the Blue Devils.

Lowe’s tough season continues

N.C. State (15-14, 4-11) has lost seven consecutive games to drop into the ACC cellar, but Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe also is facing more than his share of tough times off the court.

Lowe’s mother, Carrie, suffered a heart attack last week and was taken to a Raleigh hospital. Lowe visited with her in the days leading up to N.C. State’s 87-86 loss to Duke on Saturday afternoon, and he was allowed to bring her home Saturday night.

“I was able to bring her home, so she’s at home and doing OK right now,” Lowe said. “She’s got to go back this week for some tests, and then they’ll decide whether they have to keep her or not.”

It’s been a tough year for Lowe, who is in his second season as the head coach at his alma mater. Lowe’s father died in August, and his oldest son faces criminal charges stemming from a shooting incident last March.

Swann song

Florida State said senior guard Isaiah Swann would be out indefinitely after he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament Feb. 6 in a 62-55 win over Miami. Now, the glimmer of hope the Seminoles held that Swann might be able to return this season has evaporated.

Swann, one of the best 3-point shooters in the ACC, had surgery Friday to repair his left knee. He finishes his career having averaged 11.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in his senior season.

“He’s now recuperating in hopes to start rehabbing as soon as possible,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “We never really had a whole lot of hope of him being able to play at all this year. It was a slim chance.

“We had the operation, it was a success, he is recuperating, and hopefully before too long we’ll get him back to 100 percent. But it won’t be for Florida State.”

Rising team: North Carolina

The Tar Heels played without their starting point guard for nearly a month, but they weathered the storm in fine fashion. Sophomore Ty Lawson, who suffered a sprained left ankle just four minutes into UNC’s overtime win at Florida State on Feb. 3, returned to action Saturday in the Tar Heels’ 90-80 win over Boston College.

Lawson played a key role in the victory as senior Quentin Thomas, who filled in at the point admirably during Lawson’s absence, struggled on both ends of the court against the Eagles. Lawson tallied four points, five assists and just one turnover for the Tar Heels, who went 6-1 in the seven games he was sidelined (counting the FSU game).

The Tar Heels can’t climb any higher in the national rankings now that they have Lawson back in the fold — they ascended to No. 1 again this week — but they can improve their level of play. The question is how long that will take.

Lawson clearly wasn’t 100 percent in UNC’s 90-77 victory over Florida State on Tuesday night, and he will need some time to work his way back into shape and get reacquainted with his teammates on the court. Still, the Tar Heels should have enough time to find their rhythm before the NCAA Tournament.

Without Lawson, who averages 13.1 points per game and sports an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5-to-1, UNC was a good team with an outside chance to reach the Final Four. With him, the Tar Heels are among the favorites to cut down the nets in San Antonio.

Falling team: Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons climbed to 6-5 in ACC play after their 86-73 win over Duke on Feb. 17, but they haven’t won a game since. Wake Forest lost a pair of tight games last week — 74-70 to Maryland at home and 87-79 at Georgia Tech in overtime — but then got dismantled at Virginia Tech 80-58 on Tuesday night.

Given its four-game losing streak, Wake Forest (16-12, 6-9) has lost whatever chance it had to qualify for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.

Player of the week: Tyrese Rice, G, Boston College

Rice put on a performance for the ages in Boston College’s 90-80 loss to North Carolina, scoring 46 points in 39 minutes. Rice’s point total is the second-highest in school history — John Austin scored 49 points in a game in 1964 — and the highest ever against the Tar Heels by an ACC opponent.

Rice, who scored 24 points in the game’s first seven minutes and 34 points in the first half, was so hot that he had to fan himself to keep from catching fire. The 6-1, 190-pound junior, who made 8 of 9 3-point attempts in the first half, finished the game 14 of 25 from the field, 8 of 12 from 3-point range and 10 of 11 on free throws.

“We withstood a show, as good as I’ve ever seen, by Tyrese Rice,” UNC coach Roy Williams said.

Freshman of the week: Terrence Oglesby, G, Clemson

Oglesby capped Clemson’s rally from a 20-point deficit in dramatic fashion Sunday, making an off-balance 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining to lift the Tigers past Maryland 73-70.

Oglesby scored all 12 of his points in the second half, knocking down 4 of 7 3-point attempts in the period. He made three 3-pointers in the game’s final eight minutes, including back-to-back treys with 6:50 remaining to cut Maryland’s lead to 60-53.

“Good players take the shots at the end, and I’m not calling myself a great player by any means, but that’s what I’m trying to be,” said Oglesby, who is averaging 10.5 points per game while making 40.7 percent of his 3-point attempts this season. “You’ve got to have a certain amount of guts in order to take that shot, and I was ready for it.”

Stats and facts of the week

Eleven ACC games have gone to overtime this season, tying the conference record set during the 2005-06 season.

With his team’s win at N.C. State on Saturday, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski became the sixth Division I coach to reach 800 victories. Krzyzewski reached the milestone in the third-fewest games (1,064), trailing only Adolph Rupp (972 games) and Dean Smith (1,029 games).

Clemson has won nine conference games for the first time since the 1996-97 season.

Florida State posted three consecutive victories in February for the first time since 1992-93.

FSU guard Toney Douglas shot 3-for-12 from the field against the Tar Heels on Tuesday. Douglas shot a combined 6-for-32, including (2-for-18) from 3-point range, against UNC in two games this season.

Virginia defeated Georgia Tech 74-72 on Monday in a game rescheduled from Feb. 21 because of a leaky roof at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. It was the first ACC game played on a Monday since Florida State defeated Georgia Tech 64-54 on Feb. 21, 2000.

Georgia Tech has dropped to 5-7 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum this season, clinching its first losing record at home since the 1980-81 season.

They said it

“I like it better later in the year because it means you’ve accomplished something.” — North Carolina coach Roy Williams on being ranked No. 1 again

“This is the night that this team could have turned from good to great. We beat a really good, quality team with good seniors on senior night in a packed house on national television. This is a night that we can really count on us to do great things.” — Clemson forward James Mays after his team’s 73-70 win at Maryland

“It’s draining. There’s no doubt about it. It’s just like a boxer. How many times does he get up after he’s been knocked down? We’ve been knocked down a few times this year — [Sunday] night was a pretty good example — but we’ve come back. So I’m sure that we can come back. It’s going to be hard — it’s not easy — but these are the types of things, if you use it right, that you really get from sports that once you get out of college or whatever, hopefully this makes you a stronger person. We have to look at it that way. This is a chance for us to prove how tough we are, and we’ll see what happens this week.” — Maryland coach Gary Williams on the aftermath of his team’s heartbreaking loss to Clemson

Key upcoming games

Saturday, March 8
Miami at Florida State, noon ET
The Seminoles have won four consecutive meetings between the in-state rivals. The Hurricanes must find a way to contain guard Toney Douglas, who burned them for 28 points in FSU’s 62-55 win at Miami on Feb. 6.

North Carolina at Duke, 9 p.m. ET
As usual, there will be plenty at stake in this one. The Tar Heels enter the game with a 12-0 record on the road this season, and they have won each of the last two meetings at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The difference in this game could be UNC point guard Ty Lawson, who missed Duke’s 89-78 victory over the Tar Heels on Feb. 6 because of a sprained ankle.

Sunday, March 9
Virginia Tech at Clemson, 1:30 p.m. ET
If the Hokies can pull off the upset here, they give a huge boost to their hopes for an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Young guards Hank Thorns and Malcolm Delaney must take care of the ball for Virginia Tech against Clemson’s vaunted pressure defense.

Maryland at Virginia, 7:30 p.m. ET
The final game of the ACC regular season is one of the most important to the league. Maryland needs a win to finish above .500 in the conference and improve its NCAA Tournament chances, but that likely won’t be easy on senior day for Sean Singletary at John Paul Jones Arena.

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