Pittsburgh, north carolina prevail in day one of acc tournament

Evan Hughes

March 10, 2020

GREENSBORO, N.C. - A late second-half surge from No. 13 Pittsburgh and an emphatic statement from No. 14 North Carolina headlined day one of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament.

For what has been a unique year for the perennially dominant ACC, the first day of the tournament did not disappoint. Pittsburgh edged No. 12 Wake Forest 81-72 in game one and North Carolina pounded No. 11 Virginia Tech 78-56 in the nightcap.

Despite the injuries the Tar Heels have suffered and adversity they have faced this season, the lowest seed in the tournament looks primed for a deep run in Greensboro.

Champagnie’s Big Day Powers Panthers

In their first meeting since January 4, Pittsburgh avenged their early season loss to Wake Forest behind Justin Champagnie’s 31 points. It was a career night for the Brooklyn native, who played 38 minutes for the Panthers and hit 13 of his 19 shots.

“He's able to shoot the ball from the perimeter,” said Pittsburgh head coach Jeff Capel. “He's continuing to get better at putting the basketball on the floor. That's the next part of his game. He can finish around the basket.”

Both teams came out aggressive offensively in the first half, with the Demon Deacons shooting 57 percent from the floor. Isaiah Mucius dropped 17 first-half points to give Wake Forest a slim 41-40 lead at halftime, despite the Panthers shooting 62 percent.

The game remained back-and-forth deep into the second half, though the Panthers gained momentum with just a few minutes left. Out of a Demon Deacons timeout with 3:33 to play, Champagnie nailed a three-pointer to put Pittsburgh ahead 73-68.

The Panthers ended the game on an 8-4 run to secure a berth to the second round of the ACC Tournament. They’ll face No. 5 North Carolina State for the right to advance to the quarterfinals.

Pitt had five players record double figures, including a 14 point performance from Trey McGowens.

Meanwhile, Wake Forest closes out its 2019-2020 season with a 13-18 (6-14) record. Olivier Sarr scored 20 points in the Demon Deacons’ final game of the season, while senior Brandon Childress finished his collegiate career with 17 points.

Wake Forest coach Danny Manning completed his sixth season at the helm of the program, posting a 30-80 record in conference play in his tenure.

Manning said he “absolutely” expects to be back next year as the head coach of the Demon Deacons.

Brooks, Bacot Dominate Hokies in Dominating Victory

North Carolina enters the 2020 ACC Tournament as the 14 seed, though they’ll look to become the first team in ACC history to win five games in a row and claim an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

“[I] told the kids, let's play as hard as we can play, as well as we can play, and at the end somebody may let us stay around and play another one,” said North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. “I thought that's what we did.”

The Tar Heels made it look relatively easy on Tuesday, using their size advantage against the smallest team in the ACC. Garrison Brooks scored 20 points and Brandon Robinson, who didn’t play in the double-overtime loss to Virginia Tech in January, recorded 17 points.

North Carolina outscored the Hokies 46-30 in the second half.

“We tried to make an effort to get the ball into Garrison and he made baskets,” Williams said. “He also found B-Rob on one big three, and B-Rob going five for six from the three-point line was extremely important to us.”

The Heels also saw contributions from freshmen Armando Bacot, who recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Cole Anthony, who scored ten points and grabbed eight boards.

Carolina faces No. 6 Syracuse on Wednesday evening, a rematch of a game played less than two weeks ago at the Carrier Dome. UNC prevailed, knocking off the Orange behind 51 points from the duo of Anthony and Brooks.

For the Hokies, they finish their season with a 16-16 (7-13) record in year one of the Mike Young era.

The first year coach reflected on his first season at the helm in the post-game press conference, stating he was proud of what he was able to do with the roster when he was hired in April.

“Considering what I found on April 8th with good players graduating, 7-13 is never going to be good enough in Blacksburg nor should it be,” said Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young. “16-16 is never going to be good enough in Blacksburg, nor should it be. But we're off and running now, if you will. Things are in place. The foundation is in place.”

The Hokies return all but one player for the 2020-2021 season, losing graduate senior Branden Johnson.