For the final time this decade, the ACC Tournament -- excuse me, the New York Life ACC Tournament -- will call the Greensboro Coliseum its home. After moving away from its roots in Raleigh's Reynolds Coliseum, Greensboro has been the hub for what is arguably college basketball's premier conference tournament a record 28 times, with Charlotte coming in second with eight tour stops.
ACC Tournament: Olivier Hanlan’s heroics push Boston College into second round
The opening day of the 2015 ACC Tournament featured a series of beginnings and ends as we say hello to Buzz Williams and Danny Manning, and say goodbye to Greensboro and (possibly) Brian Gregory.
Though the next four trips will be in NBA arenas (DC, two stops in Brooklyn and back to Charlotte), there’s something special about being in a building where the tournament is THE hottest ticket of the year. Make no mistake, moving the tournament to larger, more state-of-the-art venues in larger markets is absolutely the right move for the conference, but that doesn’t mean fans can’t feel nostalgic about Greensboro. This gym has been the heart of the conference for nearly 50 years, and while last year the focus was on the future, here’s hoping that everyone takes some time to recognize Greensboro and the Greensboro Coliseum for being such a key piece of ACC history.
The other big change, of course, is the calendar. The ACC seized an opportunity to shift from a traditional Sunday afternoon final to a much more visible Saturday night final in primetime. Because of that switch, for the first time ever, the ACC Tournament went up on a Tuesday.
Hanlan lifts BC late
In the opening game, Boston College edged Georgia Tech, 66-65, on Olivier Hanlan's late steal and layup. As has been the case most of this season, Georgia Tech held a late lead and blew it, and rumors are already starting to swirl about head coach Brian Gregory's future in Atlanta.
Georgia Tech has a one-score lead inside of 3 minutes what could go wrong
— Lauren Brownlow (@lebrownlow) March 10, 2015
Brian Gregory now 20-55 in ACC play during his 4yrs at GaTech.
— Troy Machir (@TroyMachir) March 10, 2015
On the positive side of things, Hanlan continues to score a ton of points and put up a game-high 25 points, though Georgia Tech did force him to take 19 shots to get there.
The Jackets hounded Hanlan all over the court, denying him the ball whenever possible, and using two extra defenders to switch and hedge every ball screen when he did have the ball.
Boston College will face North Carolina tomorrow, which could become a popular upset pick after Hanlan torched the Heels for 30 points during the season in a nine-point loss.
The second game of the day saw an incredibly entertaining matchup of two first-year ACC coaches in Danny Manning and Buzz Williams. Though it will take a while for the talent to catch up to the coaching, it seems safe to say that both Virginia Tech and Wake Forest made good hires.
Williams inherited a team without a clear-cut ACC-level player, and while the Deacons have legitimate talent, Manning’s challenge has been overcoming inconsistent effort and attitude from the Jeff Bzdelik leftovers. The glass ceiling in the ACC is thick, but it would be shocking to see Wake Forest and Virginia Tech in the league’s bottom four in 2016.
What’s next?
Here’s the schedule for Wednesday (all times ET):
Game 3: No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 Florida State, Noon, ESPN/ACC Network
Game 4: No. 5 North Carolina vs. No. 12 Boston College, 2 p.m., ESPN/ACC Network
Game 5: No. 7 N.C. State vs. No. 10 Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., ESPN2/ACC Network
Game 6: No. 6 Miami vs. No. 14 Virginia Tech, 9 p.m., ESPN2/ACC Network
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