Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler.
Welcome, SMU, to the ACC and basketball.
While the Mustangs had a fine initial football season, reaching the ACC championship game and the 12-team college playoff, the roundball sport is not looking so good.
After beating Virginia and Boston College from the lower half of the league, they took on the biggest names in the ACC, Duke and Carolina, over four days.
The Blue Devils won in a romp Saturday before the first sellout crowd for an SMU home game in years and did it without an ailing head coach Jon Scheyer. On Tuesday night, the Tar Heels played their best 30 minutes of the season and eventually led SMU by 25 points before slumbering to an 82-67 win over the last 10 minutes.
Watching in person from Cameron Indoor Stadium, I saw Duke toy with Quad 1 Pitt before winning by 29 points and later at the Dean Dome caught Carolina opening up with seven 3-pointers (three by freshman Drake Powell, who had a career-high 14 points in a half) and were never threatened by the Quad 2 Mustangs.
The early analysis is that every other team in the ACC is playing for second place behind Duke, which may go undefeated in the conference this season. The Devils are that tall, talented and terribly deep.
After leading by 10 at the half, sensational 6-9 freshman Cooper Flagg ignited the Cameron Crazies and the entire crowd with two dynamic dunks. The first came on a fast break with Flagg racing down the left side of the court and slamming the ball with his right hand. The second was a big stuff after wheeling through the lane.
The Quad 1 match-up began with No. 2 in the NET rankings running away from No. 11 Pitt. In the later game, No. 41 (Quad 2) SMU will surely drop behind UNC, which was No. 43 before the 9 pm tip-off.
The Tar Heels’ three- and four-guard rotations held their own with one 7-footer and two 6-11s in the Mustangs’ top nine players. Defense was the key, as Carolina solved SMU’s opening zone and later full-court presses, and the Heels were the most aggressive they have played over extended minutes, winning their 22nd straight game holding the opponent under 70 points.
Carolina took over the ACC lead in scoring offense from SMU, which tallied its third-lowest total points of the season. Duke widened its ACC lead in scoring defense by holding Pitt to 47 points.
Both games were rough-and-tumble affairs with players limping to the bench. Carolina’s R.J. Davis had a face-to-face collision with 6-7, 230-pound SMU super senior Matt Cross and left the court gushing blood from his nose.
“SMU is one of the better teams in our conference and in the country,” Hubert Davis said afterward.
For their last two games, the ACC newbies did not play that way.
Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines