The night session brought another sluggish start and a fast one from the higher seeds:
#2 North Carolina 79 #7 Virginia 67
In my original post on the ACC Tournament I considered how much impact adding the Thursday game would have for the four winners playing on quaterfinal Friday. If it illustrated anything, it showed that the higher seeds were much more sluggish than the squads who had one game under their belt. Duke squeaked it out against Miami, NC State never bothered showing up against Wake Forest. Would UNC feel the same sluggishness. Unfortunately they did falling behind 14-4 before getting it together later in the first half. UNC lead by 5 at halftime and stayed at least that far ahead the rest of the way. The quicker UVa guards gave Bobby Frasor and Wes Miller problems. They both committed a lot of fouls with Frasor fouling out. UNC also failed to enjoy their customary rebounding margin which was crucial in keeping UVa closer than perhaps most expected. Reyshawn Terry overcame three opening bricks from beyond the arc to finish with 24 including an acrobatic reverse layup. Tyler Hansbrough was surrounded by defenders all night and finished with 15.
#3 Boston College 80 #6 Maryland 66
Boston College seems to have been immuned to the high seed sluggishness which affected all the other ones. Of course it also helped that Maryland laid down for them. BC came right out the gate and went up 19-2 hitting their shots and watching Maryland miss everything they put up. Maryland was never in it. The Terps closed it to 14 late in the second half, most likely because BC got bored. It was a good start for the Eagles and Maryland is heading for the NIT.