Check below for game stories from all the ACC basketball action on Sunday. While we’re in non-conference play, stories will be listed in alphabetical order, by which ACC team is involved.
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Miami beats Arizona State, 60-57, at Wooden Legacy
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Rion Brown slammed home a dunk with 33 seconds remaining in the second half, breaking a tie score and leading the Miami Hurricanes to a 60-57 win over Arizona State Sunday afternoon at Honda Center to claim fifth place in the Wooden Legacy.
The Hurricanes (5-3), trailed by 10 points in the first half, and eight points in the second but were done in by a second half in which they shot 31 percent from the floor..
Miami didn’t take its first lead of the game – on a jump shot by Garrius Adams – until 6:28 remained in the game.
Arizona State was clinging to a 57-56 lead with 1:56 left but missed key layups down the stretch.
James Kelly tied the score at 57-57 with a free throw, and the Hurricanes got the ball back when Arizona State guard Jahii Carson missed a layup.
Kelly grabbed the rebound and fired an outlet pass to Brown, who had gotten behind the defense. His got to the basket uncontested and slammed the ball home.
Another missed layup by Carson led to another Miami free throw, this time with 2.6 seconds left. The Hurricanes sealed the win when Adams intercepted Arizona State’s last-chance, length-of-court inbound pass.
The Hurricanes had trouble throughout most of the game because they weren’t able to match up well against Arizona State’s 7-foot-1 center Jordan Bachynski. Four inches taller than Miami’s tallest starter (Donnavan Kirk), Bachynski led all scorers with 20 points, most of which came on offensive rebounds and passes inside.
The Sun Devils also got outside help from Jermaine Marshall, who hit 3 of 7 3-point shots. He finished with 14 points.
The Hurricanes fell behind in the first half, thanks in part to Bachynski’s presence in the paint, and a 29 percent shooting clip from the field. They also hit just 14 of 21 free throws, making their comeback that much tougher.
Miami climbed back into the game when Arizona State coach Herb Sendek gave Bachynski a breather. That opened up the lane for the Hurricanes, who were able to erase their deficit.
Davon Reed led the Hurricanes with 19 points, while Kelly added 11. Adams finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
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UAB upsets No. 16 North Carolina, 63-59
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Chad Frazier scored 25 points and UAB made three free throws over the final 6.6 seconds to preserve a 63-59 upset of No. 16 North Carolina on Sunday.
Jordan Swing hit two free throws and Robert Williams made 1 of 2 to help the Blazers (6-2) hold on after losing most of a 14-point second half lead.
Marcus Paige missed two contested 3-pointers in one late possession and the Tar Heels (4-2) fouled Swing, who gave the Blazers a 62-57 lead.
Brice Johnson drove for a quick basket but Williams effectively put the game away when he made the second of two free throw attempts.
The Tar Heels were coming off a win over No. 9 Louisville to end the defending champions’ 21-game winning streak, but coach Roy Williams couldn’t beat his protege this time.
UAB second-year coach Jerod Haase played for Williams at Kansas and spent 13 years on his staff for his alma mater and the Tar Heels.
It was UAB’s first win over a ranked team since beating No. 20 Butler in 2009, and it came against Haase’s mentor and one of college basketball’s most storied programs.
J.P. Tokoto led North Carolina with a career-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Paige had 13 points but made just 6 of 16 shots and missed all six 3-point attempts after scoring a career-high 32 against Louisville.
Nobody else picked up the slack in perimeter shooting for the Tar Heels, who made 1 of 12 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Blazers, who lead the nation in total rebounds, dominated the boards 52-37 to overcome shooting troubles. They made just 19 of 62 shots (30.6 percent) but collected 21 offensive rebounds.
Frazier made 12 of 14 free throws and hit three 3-pointers in five attempts for UAB. Rod Rucker added 11 points while Fahro Alihodzic had 13 rebounds and eight points.
UAB also made 22 of 28 from the line.
UAB led 39-25 early in the second half before a long field goal drought helped North Carolina come back.
Alihodzic snapped a 7:24 stretch without a made shot when he banked one in for a 54-48 edge with 3:27 left.
North Carolina had chances late but couldn’t convert.
Paige scored on a drive, was fouled and hit the free throw to cut UAB’s lead to 58-57 with 41 seconds to play.
Five seconds later, Frazier answered with two foul shots and North Carolina called time out.
Paige got a second chance after missing a 3-pointer from the top of the key but came up well short launching another attempt over two defenders.
The Blazers put it away on the line.
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Grant leads Notre Dame in win over Cornell, 101-67
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – As Notre Dame coach Mike Brey continues to tinker with his lineup early in the season, he decided Sunday to go small and see what he got.
Brey inserted freshman Demetrius Jackson into the lineup to give the Fighting Irish three guards to go with guard/forward Pat Connaughton and center Garrick Sherman. That lineup responded with Notre Dame’s highest scoring game this season, a 101-67 rout of Cornell at Purcell Pavilion.
Jerian Grant scored 20 points to reach 1,000 for his career, Eric Atkins added 19 points and Connaughton had 18 points and 10 rebounds as all five Irish starters reached double figures.
“We just wanted to start a different way,” Brey said. “I’ve liked that lineup in stretches in previous games, and I liked it in practice.
“I’m still searching.”
Despite the success his guard-heavy group had against Cornell, nothing is set in stone. With a trip to face No. 23 Iowa in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge on Tuesday, Brey still isn’t sure which lineup will be on the floor at any given time.
“I told them after the game, ‘You know, in Iowa City on Tuesday, who knows who finishes? I have no idea, so all ten of you be ready,'” Brey said.
Nolan Cressler scored 17 points and Robert Hatter had 15 to pace Cornell, which has now lost 15 in a row dating back to last season, one away from tying the school record longest losing streak of 16, set in the 1972-73 season.
The Big Red, which won 29 games and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2010, is 0-9 for the first time since 1904-05, when it started 0-10.
After starting the game 2-for-10, Notre Dame (5-1) found the range, shooting over 62 percent from the field in the second half. The Irish also had 28 assists against just five turnovers, and broke the 100-point mark for the first time since its 5-overtime upset of Louisville last season.
“With the new starting lineup we have, we’re going to score a lot more points and be on the fastbreak a lot more,” Grant said. “And defensively, I think it helps us a lot with us four being able to press full-court a little bit.”
Grant knocked down a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half as Notre Dame hit four in a row from deep, but Hatter kept the Big Red within striking distance. Hatter scored Cornell’s first six points of the second half and continually found room in the lane, forcing Notre Dame coach Mike Brey to switch to a zone defense.
Cornell missed its next three field goals, and a 3-pointer and conventional three-point play by Connaughton started a 17-2 run that pushed Notre Dame’s lead to 25 points with 6:26 to play.
Cornell went 4:29 without a field goal during that run.
“Notre Dame’s a very, very good offensive team, we’re not a great defensive team, so when you put those two things together, it ends up in a 30-some plus margin of victory,” said Cornell coach Bill Courtney. “They came out and hit that barrage of 3s, and whatever it seems we did, they countered it.”
Grant’s three-point play with 7:18 remaining got him to the 1,000-point mark, making him the 55th Irish player to accomplish that.
“It feels good,” Grant said. “It’s an elite group of people, 50-some people, so just to be able to be in that group is exciting.”
Cornell, which finished 8 of 21 from the arc, hit its first two 3-pointers and scored the game’s first eight points before the Irish got it going. Notre Dame scored the next 10 points, and went on a 22-4 run to go up by 10 with 8:39 to play in the first half. Cornell hit just 1 of 11 shots, including seven straight misses, during that nine-minute stretch.
“At first, starting out 8-0, it didn’t look like it was working out too well. But we finally got it clicking a little bit,” Atkins said. “We can really get out and run. As soon as a team misses, I feel like we’re down the court now in a few seconds. We can really space the floor, so it gives us a lot of open jump shots and driving lanes.”
Notre Dame’s biggest first-half lead was 14 points, and Connaughton finished the half with 12.