ACC Notebook: Wild Wednesday night of halfcourt shots, court storms

Virginia Tech had two chances to close out a win at SMU in the final seconds, but Ben Hammond (83.3 percent at the line this season) and Tobi Lawal (75.0 percent) both missed the front ends of one-and-ones, leaving the door open, ever so slightly.

Still, SMU would need to get the ball into position for a game-tying or -winning shot from the backcourt.

After the two coaches called timeouts to set up and then adjust their approaches, Boopie Miller, who had come into the game shooting 92.5 percent at the line, and had missed five charity tosses – he was 11-of-16 at the line on the night – took the pass in the backcourt, not the ideal place to try to attack.

Got to just on the inside of halfcourt.

Heaved.

Splash.

Gotta feel here for the Hokies (13-5, 2-3 ACC, NET: 55), who have lost three of their last four, all on last-second threes.

SMU (13-4, 2-2 ACC, NET: 32), after that loud, quite audible gasp, remains in good standing with respect to its NCAA Tournament resume.

Shocker on the Left Coast

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Stanford scored 55 points in its loss at Virginia over the weekend. Naturally, the Cardinal followed that one up with 95 in a win over North Carolina, which, suddenly, is looking quite vulnerable, particularly on defense.

UNC (14-3, 2-2 ACC, NET: 30) gave up 97 in a loss at SMU last week, then 84 in a closer-than-it-needed-to-be win over Wake Forest on Saturday night.

Through five ACC games, the Heels are 17th in the ACC in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom, allowing 1.208 points per possession.

The school in dead last in defensive efficiency: Florida State, which is 0-4 in the ACC, and just gave up 113 to NC State in a loss.

Selection Sunday Watch

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Fourteen of the 18 ACC programs are ranked in the NET Top 75, which is good for everybody going forward, because it creates loads more Quad 1 and Quad 2 opportunities.

The cutoff I use for being good in terms of getting an NCAA invite is Top 40.

What we have there:

• #3 Duke (16-1, 5-0 ACC)
• #14 Virginia (15-2, 4-1 ACC)
• #21 Louisville (12-5, 2-3 ACC)
• #26 Clemson (15-3, 5-0 ACC)
• #29 NC State (12-5, 3-1 ACC)
• #30 UNC (14-3, 2-2 ACC)
• #31 Miami (15-2, 4-0 ACC)
• #32 SMU (13-4, 2-2 ACC)

Double-Bye Watch

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KenPom forecast (updated Jan. 15):

• Duke: 27-4, 15-3 ACC
• Virginia: 26-5, 14-4 ACC
• Miami: 24-7, 13-5 ACC
• Clemson: 23-8, 13-5 ACC
• SMU: 22-9, 11-7 ACC
• NC State: 20-11, 11-7 ACC
• North Carolina: 22-9, 10-8 ACC
• Louisville: 21-10, 10-8 ACC

BartTorvik forecast (updated Jan. 15):

• Virginia: 26-5, 15-3 ACC
• Duke: 26-5, 14-4 ACC
• Clemson: 24-7, 14-4 ACC
• Miami: 23-8, 13-5 ACC
• NC State: 21-10, 12-6 ACC
• North Carolina: 22-9, 10-8 ACC
• Louisville: 21-10, 10-8 ACC
• SMU: 21-10, 10-8 ACC