After two full days of games, we have FINALLY arrived at the quarter-finals of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro.
Day two left little to be desired as we saw a buzzer-beater send Syracuse home and Jim Boeheim into retirement and UNC and NC State both put on clinics in the nightcap to advance.
Here is what to expect from the early tip of Day 3:
Miami vs. Wake Forest (Noon EST)
The Miami Hurricanes find themselves in the unfamiliar spot of being the top seed and maybe the favorite to cut down the nets in Greensboro but today's matchup with Wake Forest is no cake walk.
Tyree Appleby and Davien Williamson combined for 32 points yesterday against Syracuse including a buzzer-beating 3 by Williamson. The matchup today against the Canes doesn't favor the Deacons backcourt as much but they will need a similar performance. Bobi Klintman was also able to step up and neutralize Jesse Edwards and have a double-double himself. Klintman has been great as of late and if he is able to use his length to give the smaller Norchad Omier problems in the post the Demon Deacons' have a chance to play spoiler.
Miami of course has Isaiah Wong, the ACC Player of the Year, who averaged nearly 16 points a game to lead the way for the Hurricanes but it's easy to forget about guys like Nigel Pack and Jordan Miller who can really light it up as well. As I mentioned in yesterday's preview featuring Wake Forest, they struggle defensively and that showed even against a Syracuse squad that, quite frankly, isn't great on the offensive end. Against a team with as many scoring options as Miami that is a recipe for disaster.
Best Bet(s): Over 158.5
KenPom has this games' total projected at 161 and with the potential for big games out of either Tyree Appleby or Isaiah Wong I think this one has the potential to go way over. A fresh Miami squad should also be able to take advantage of an already bad Wake defense that is playing its second game in two days.
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