That livened things up.
Well obviously this has to start with Syracuse.
When you see that the Orange lost to Bryant, you know, you think...what the hell?
But it’s not as simple as that.
In the first half, there were clearly some tensions and Judah Mintz slapped a Bryant player you may remember: Doug Ebert.
Edert, who had a starring role with Saint Peter’s in last spring’s stirring NCAA run, understandably slapped him back.
Then John Bol Ajak came for Edert and, hilariously and probably intelligently, he got some guys in between him and Ajak, who was not there to discuss ways and means.
Mintz and Edert were ejected. So were Syracuse assistants Adrian Aubrey, Allen Griffin and one other member of the staff.
Bryant saw Kvonn Cramer and Tyler Brelsford also got booted.
The Bulldogs were up 25-17 at that point, with 7:35 to go.
At Syracuse.
The halftime score was 40-29.
At Syracuse.
The Orange did rally in the second half, ripping off a 22-8 run and actually going up 61-60. The lead went back and forth after that before Syracuse’s Joe Girard hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to put SU up 72-71 with :08 left.
Then Bryant’s Sherif Gross-Bullock took the inbounds the length of the court before his drive bounced up high then in to give Bryant a dramatic win.
At Syracuse.
We’re a long way from the glory days there.
But the drama didn’t end with the buzzer. Boeheim ripped some of the Bryant players who left the court before the handshake line:
“His players didn’t come and shake hands. They ran off the court, two or three of them. I don’t know why you would do that. We lost and we shook hands. That’s what you do, win or lose. That’s what you do.”
Jim Boeheim confronted Baylor coach Jared Grasso about the slap fight after the game and also added this in his comments to the press:
“He gave me a sarcastic apology, which fits him. It really wasn’t an apology that’s why I didn’t really accept it. He said he apologized, it wasn’t that kind of apology.”
So fun times in the Dome. Syracuse is now 3-3, which isn’t fatal but also not good.
Every other ACC team won, though the competition wasn’t very good.
Wake beat Hampton 97-70, Clemson took care of winless Cal 67-59 and Georgia Tech beat North Alabama 80-61.
Granted, it was against Hampton, but Cameron Hildreth had a triple double: he finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. That’s a lot of work against anyone and how often do you see it, even in buy games?
It’s an accomplishment.
People haven't talked enough about him yet but he’s really improved from last year, pretty much across the board.
Otherwise, as you expect, it was a blowout. Wake forced 17 turnovers, hit 50 percent on threes and dominated the backboards. That would have been a lot to overcome.
Damari Monsanto added 20 to help push the Deacs to 7-1.
Clemson beat Cal to take third place in the Emerald Coast Classic.Keep it in perspective: Cal is 0-7. Clemson’s loss to Iowa was much more impressive.
In tonight’s edition of the PJ Hall Watch, Clemson’s star player, returning from another injury, got 10 points in 14 minutes. Hunter Tyson and Chase Hunter got 14 each.
Deivon Smith hit 7-12 for 16. Deebo Coleman added 14.
Georgia Tech has had offensive woes for a long time so don’t put too much stock into 59.6 shooting. Let’s see what Tech does with Penn State this week in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Seeing how UNC bounces back or if frustrations continue, Miami is taking on Johnny Dawkins’ team and Florida State has a three-game stretch of Nebraska, Purdue and Virginia.
Sunday’s ACC Action
