The 10th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge has now ended with the ACC winning the series for the tenth straight year. Despite a few of the scores, there were some close matchups and the Big Ten had a pretty good showing. They've closed the gap a bit by only losing six games to five.
But what did we learn from the 2008 version of the Challenge?
ACC's Best Is Better: Well, we did learn that the ACC's best is a great deal better than the Big Ten's best. North Carolina went up to Michigan State (well, Ford Field in Detroit) and destroyed the Spartans by 35 points. That came a night after Duke went to Purdue and beat the Boilermakers by 16. These are the two best teams in their respective conferences and all have Final Four aspirations. Yet the ACC went into Big Ten country and flexed their muscle.
One of the most slept on players in the ACC is Greivis Vasquez. Ever since he set foot in College Park two years ago, he has asserted himself as the leader of the Maryland Terrapins on and off the court.
His star shined again during the Terps 75-70 win over Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Vasquez lead Maryland with 23 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals. He offset tough shooting nights from Eric Hayes and Adrian Bowie.
This was a back-and-forth game with both teams, at times, looking as if they had control of it. Maryland broke through with their rebounding (43 to 26) and ability to get to the line (20 free throws to Michigan's six).
Michigan gets to come home to face a Duke team that beat them by 15 points two weeks ago. Maryland has a bit of a breezy schedule and could be 12-2 when they start ACC play next month.
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge is entering its final day of action. Both conferences have won three games. The ACC has a slim lead in points, 405 to 402.
One interesting note is that the ACC was 33-4 at home during the first nine years of the Challenge. They've already lost two home games this year.
Let's take a look back at what has happened:
Wisconsin 74, Virginia Tech 72: The Badgers avoided an upset with a Trevon Hughes jumper with 0.7 seconds remaining. The Tech loss was the first for an ACC team at home in the Challenge in 11 games. Big Ten leads 1-0
Ohio State 73, Miami-FL 68: How about another road win for the Big Ten? Miami's Jack McClinton was ejected after taking a swipe at a Buckeye player. After an agressive run by the Canes, Ohio State mounted a second half comeback and pulled out the win. Big Ten leads 2-0.
Clemson 76, Illinois 74: Clemson puts the ACC on the board with their own road win. The Tigers' Demontez Stitt led the Tigers with 18 points and they used their defensive pressure to force 17 Illini turnovers. Big Ten leads 2-1.
Boston College 57, Iowa 55: Iowa's Andrew Brommer missed the front end of a one-and-one with 0.4 seconds left as the Hawkeyes fell to BC. Boston College held on despite scoring just one point in the final 4:45. Challenge tied 2-2.
Duke 76, Purdue 60: Jon Scheyer came back to his home turf and scored 20 points for the Blue Devils. Kyle Singer was scorching hot late to put the game away. The win helped flex the ACC's muscle. ACC leads 3-2.
No. 4 Duke went into Purdue and pounded the No. 9 Boilermakers, 76-60. The Blue Devils are a perfect 10-0 in ACC/Big Ten Challenge history.
A lot was made of the fact that Duke rarely plays any true road games against non-conference teams. What I forgot to mention was the fact that Duke usually wins them.
Of all the games I listed, Duke's only loss came at Georgetown in 2006.
In this game, Duke did a wonderful job handling the physical Boilermakers. The Blue Devils reminded everyone that they are a darn good defensive team and met Purdue blow for blow. Duke held E'Twaun Moore, Purdue's leading scorer, without a point until about ten minutes left in the game.
While the ACC/Big Ten Challenge is tied at 3-3, the fact that perceived second-best team in the ACC just drubbed the perceived second-best team in the Big Ten says a lot about the power of the Atlantic Coast Conference. It will mean even more if UNC can beat Michigan State in front of a gazillion people at Ford Field tonight.
You'd think that if you held Tyrese Rice to just five field goal attempts that you would be able to handle Boston College. Rice would hit nine of his 12 free throw attempts and helped BC to a 57-55 win over Iowa.
The Eagles nearly gave this one away. They held a 56-45 lead with 4:45 left in the game. So, naturally, BC would score just one point the rest of the way and held off a furious Hawkeye comeback.
The comeback was nearly complete as Iowa's Andrew Brommer had two free throw attempts to tie the game. As Brommer was receiving the ball for a desperation three-pointer to win it, BC's Corey Raji grabbed him with 0.4 seconds left and before he could get a shot off. Brommer would miss the front end of the one-and-one and the game was over.
Brommer is just 3-of-15 from the stripe this year and I don't understand why he was even on the floor at that point of the game. It was Iowa's only missed free throw all night.
Everyone shot bad in this one. Iowa shot just 42%; Boston College shot 38.8%. Rice (15 points) was the only Eagle in double figures.
Clemson turned on the offensive and defensive pressure in the second half, forcing 17 Illinois turnovers and squeaking out a 76-74 win in Champaign.
In one of the best games of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Clemson shot an amazing 58% from the field (Illinois shot a darn good 51.7% themselves). It was a fun, physical game to watch and had just 21 combined free throws attempted.
Illinois was less balanced. Mike Davis scored a career-high 28 points and Demetri McCamey added 20. The rest of the team combined for just 26 points.
This is the first win for the ACC in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge after the Big Ten took the first two games. It was also the third straight road win to open the series.
The Miami Hurricanes missed their leader tonight. All-ACC guard Jack McClinton was ejected in the first half of their ACC/Big Ten Challenge game against Ohio State after he took a swipe at Anthony Crater.
After passing the ball, McClinton swiped or slapped or smacked Crater in the face. It wasn't much, but it did tick off Buckeyes coach Thad Matta who made sure the officials took some sort of action. After a lengthy conference, they gave McClinton a flagrant foul and ejected him from the game. By the way, McClinton did this right after Crater hit him. Crater stayed in the game.
The 10th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge has now ended with the ACC winning the series for the tenth straight year. Despite a few of the scores, there were some close matchups and the Big Ten had a pretty good showing. They've closed the gap a bit by only losing six games to five.
One of the most slept on players in the ACC is 
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge is entering its final day of action. Both conferences have won three games. The ACC has a slim lead in points, 405 to 402. 
No. 4 Duke went into Purdue and pounded the No. 9 Boilermakers, 76-60. The Blue Devils are a perfect 10-0 in ACC/Big Ten Challenge history.
You'd think that if you held 
Clemson turned on the offensive and defensive pressure in the second half, forcing 17 Illinois turnovers and squeaking out a 76-74 win in Champaign.
The Miami Hurricanes missed their leader tonight. All-ACC guard 
