The second round of the ACC Tournament opens on Wednesday with a game between a pair of teams fighting for their postseason lives. After earning byes for round one, No. 8 Maryland and No. 9 Florida State make their tournament debuts at noon in a battle to advance and face No. 1 seed Virginia in round three. Later in the day, No. 5 Pittsburgh, No. 6 Clemson, and No. 7 N.C. State will each be making their tournament debuts, as well.
2014 ACC Tournament schedule and bracket: One last chance for Florida State and Maryland
The second round of the ACC Tournament gets started at noon ET.
Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
The loser of the tilt between the Terrapins and the Seminoles will be sent home from Greensboro, N.C. with no chance of making the NCAA tournament. Both the Seminoles and the Terrapins missed the cut in SB Nation bracket guru Chris Dobbertean's Wednesday release of Bracketology, which projects five ACC teams to be selected for the tournament. Winning the conference tournament altogether is obviously the best way to ensure inclusion in the NCAA tournament, but a deep run into the ACC Tournament, including a win over top-seeded Virginia, looks good on a resume.
The Seminoles blew the Terrapins out, 85-61, when the teams met in Tallahassee on Jan. 12, but edged FSU in a more closely fought, 83-71, contest in College Park on Feb. 8. On both occasions, the victor shot above 50 percent from the field while the the loser struggled -- 33 percent and 38 percent, respectively.
No. 12 Wake Forest beat No. 13 Notre Dame to advance and face No. 5 Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals. Coron Williams scored a season-high 25 points to lead Wake Forest in a 81-69 win in the first round, the first ACC Tournament win for the Demon Deacons since 2007. Wake Forest hasn't won two games in the ACC Tournament since 2006. Pittsburgh and Wake Forest meant once this season when the Panthers coasted to an easy victory on Jan. 11. Lamar Patterson had a big game in the win, scoring 27 points, his third highest point total of the season.
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No. 7 N.C. State and No. 10 Miami will meet in the quarterfinals after the Hurricanes pushed past the Virginia Tech Hokies , 57-53, in the opening round. Star forward T.J. Warren and the Wolfpack had a bit of trouble against the Hurricanes this season. In the first meeting between the two teams, N.C. State barely held on to win by a single point. The luck wouldn't continue in the second meeting, with Miami winning by 15 points.
ACC Tournament
The final ACC game of the evening is between No. 6 Clemson and No. 11 Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets barely made it into the quarterfinals, needing overtime to knock off Boston College on Wednesday. Clemson enters the tournament having won four of its past six games, including an overtime loss at Pittsburgh to end the regular season. The Tigers beat the Yellow Jackets in both meetings this season, although the 45-41 victory on Feb. 4 was particularly ugly for all involved.
Here’s the full schedule for the second round of the ACC Tournament (all times ET). All games will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
No. 8 Maryland vs. No. 9 Florida State, 12 p.m.
No. 5 Pittsburgh vs. No. 12 Wake Forest, 2 p.m.
No. 7 N.C. State vs. No. 10 Miami, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Clemson vs. No. 11 Georgia Tech, 9 p.m.
The full ACC Tournament bracket can be found here:
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