The Madness that is the month of March has officially arrived and there’s no exception in the ACC Tournament.
Two of the top four seeds in the ACC Tournament took care of business. Another top seed found themselves in an overtime thriller. The last top seed was one-and-done.
And one team has made a crazy run already…
Let’s go over the ACC Tournament so far.
Takeaway #1: Elliot Cadeau is an unsung hero
If you ask Tar Heel fans what they remember about Thursday’s ACC Tournament victory, they might mention Armando Bacot’s double-double. They might remember Seth Trimble’s monster dunk that came out of nowhere. Or RJ Davis with another big night, which you could say is a normal night for him.
If you asked me what I remember, I would say Elliot Cadeau willing North Carolina to their big run in the first half.
It wasn’t his final statline that was so impressive, though it is a packed statsheet. It was the way in which he played.
It was a slow start for UNC. The Tar Heels were 5-for-10 from the field to start the contest, but those ten shots took almost eight minutes to get up due to four UNC turnovers. Luckily for North Carolina, Florida State was having the same problems. The teams were tied at 13 points apiece entering the second media timeout.
Enter Elliot Cadeau.
The freshman started to push the pace coming out of the break. He started the scoring with a left-handed layup to put UNC up by two. A minute later, he found Jalen Washington for a layup.
Soon after, he secured his first steal of the game, changed ends, and finished with a layup in transition.
Less than three minutes later, Cadeau had all three of his steals and North Carolina was starting to pull away.
Cadeau’s final statline: eight points, six assists (game-leader), four rebounds, three steals, and a block… in just 28 minutes.
This freshman is having one helluva ACC Tournament already. He’ll look to continue his stellar play against Pitt in the semifinals.
Takeaway #2: That’s MISTER Leggett to you
30 points off the bench is a great team stat. How about 30 points off the bench for one guy?
Blake Hinson has led Pitt all season, his phenomenal play earning him All-ACC First Team honors. Hinson was great in this one, playing all but one minute and scoring 20 hard-earned points for the Panthers in their 81-69 win over Wake Forest.
But Ishmael Leggett stole the show.
The junior guard was electric, going 11-for-18 from the field with a couple of threes. He was also two rebounds shy of a double-double and finished with FIVE steals.
The Demon Deacons fell behind by 12 heading into the break but started to mount a comeback in the second half. Wake made it a three-point game with just over four minutes to go. Leggett scored eight of his 30 points in that final stretch, leading Pitt to the semifinals.
If Pitt can get even a fraction of that production from Leggett moving forward, they’ll be a tough team to stop. The Panthers have their biggest test ahead of them, though: A matchup with 1-seed UNC at 7 p.m. for a berth to the ACC Championship Game.
Takeaway #3: We have found our ACC Tournament Cinderella
In the first-round matchup between NC State and Louisville, the Wolfpack bench celebrated a three-point bucket by throwing up the “3-Point Goggles” (making the “O.K.” gesture with both hands, putting them together, and looking through the index and thumb like glasses).
It was at this moment when Jim Boeheim, who was on the call during the game, lit the fuse.
“I don’t know why anybody who’s got the recent history of these guys are celebrating anything except, I guess, being here,” said Boeheim. “Let’s not celebrate until we win a game or two.”
The former long-time Syracuse head coach should have paid closer attention to the tournament bracket; Boeheim’s Orange was set to play the winner of the game.
NC State pulled through with a win, then proceeded to embarrass Syracuse the following night, 83-65. The Wolfpack lost both meetings between the two teams during the regular season, but NC State guard Jayden Taylor said that Boeheim’s comments “lit a fire” under the team.
“We didn’t like that,” said Taylor. “I couldn’t wait to hit a three.”
Taylor hit a three alright; he hit three of them.
As if a team in their conference tournament needed any more motivation, Boeheim handed it to the Wolfpack… and NC State rode that momentum to a victory over 2-seed Duke.
Now there are four teams left. NC State has a chance to steal an at-large bid from a bubble team, and they have all the momentum. 3-seed Virginia up next.
Takeaway #4: Virginia had a shaky start
The Cavaliers survived their quarterfinal game against Boston College, 66-60, but it took overtime to do it.
BC had been up-and-down all season long, but they seemed to be figuring it out in the ACC Tournament.
Senior Quinten Post went out with a bang, dropping 30 points in the first round against Miami’s Norchad Omier, one of the conference’s best big men. He followed up that performance with a stat-stuffing effort against Clemson, finishing two rebounds and three assists shy of a triple-double.
Post’s performance carried over to the quarterfinals, as he finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds to go along with a couple of blocks. He is a huge reason as to why the Eagles stayed in the game.
BC took a 6-point lead into the second half, which didn’t come as much of a surprise. Virginia has been one of the strangest less-than-10-loss teams in the nation, losing games they should win and winning some games that they shouldn’t. For the entire game, BC looked poised to keep that trend alive.
When Boston College’s Mason Madsen hit the buzzer-beater to force overtime, it seemed any chance of regaining the momentum vanished.
But Virginia’s Reece Beekman had other ideas, scoring or assisting on eight of Virginia’s nine overtime points to lead the Cavaliers to a win. Beekman finished with 11 points and 11 assists and was 3 rebounds shy of a triple-double.
Virginia now is tasked with the hottest team in the tournament, NC State, in their Semifinal matchup. They still have a lot to prove heading into the tournament’s final two days.