What could have been: N&O’s simulated ACC tournament winner is ... NC State!
COMING ON SUNDAY: THE NEWS & OBSERVER’S “WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN” SELECTION SUNDAY. WE HAD AN EXPERT BRACKETOLOGIST IN WASHINGTON, D.C., PICK AN NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET. WE’LL REVEAL IT AT 7 P.M. ON NEWSOBSERVER.COM AND CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM. JOIN LUKE, JOE AND JONAS FOR ALL THE GORY DETAILS. 2020 NANDO MADNESS!
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What does a sports department do when there are no sports? For one thing, there are still great stories to be told even when games aren’t being played. But the cancellation of the ACC and NCAA tournaments left a void in all of our lives. We decided to fill it.
Using the simulation engine at whatifsports.com, we simulated the remaining games of the ACC tournament. And the result was quite interesting.
To be clear: Our staff didn’t pick the winner of these games ourselves — whatifsports.com did. And these results shouldn’t be taken as gospel. Each game was simulated once, in a vacuum, without accounting for fatigue or injuries or (normal) illness or crowds or home-court advantage or any of the real-life variables that make all of this so unpredictable.
But we’re plunging ahead in this new virtual world, where your 2020 ACC champion is, for the first time in 33 years … N.C. State?
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
N.C. State survived until there was nowhere left to advance, and may finally have slain a few of its own demons along the way.
Thirty-three years of frustration exploded into a wild celebration on the Greensboro Coliseum floor when Devon Daniels made the final free throws to fend off a furious Virginia comeback and lift N.C. State to its first ACC title since 1987, removing any doubt about the Wolfpack’s NCAA tournament fate.
Jericole Hellems’ runner with 71 seconds to go put the Wolfpack ahead for good and seal a 76-73 win over Virginia after blowing a 20-point halftime lead. But N.C. State went 6-for-6 from the line in the final minute to complete a magical four-day run through the ACC tournament that included wins over three Top 25 teams, starting with an easy win over Pittsburgh before upsetting Duke and Florida State on its way to the championship game.
Braxton Beverly led the fifth-seeded Wolfpack with 19 points, but Markell Johnson was named most outstanding player after his 16-point, eight-assist performance bumped his tournament average to 13.2 points and 8.0 assists per game. Johnson’s 32 total assists set a new ACC tournament record.
In Kevin Keatts’ third season in Raleigh, he was able to complete the feat that none of his previous four predecessors could manage. N.C. State is only the fourth team seeded fifth or worse to win the title since the Wolfpack did it as the sixth seed in 1987.
Braxton Key led Virginia with a game-high 21 points while Johnson’s 11 steals over four games tied for second place in ACC tournament history.
Everything went swimmingly for N.C. State in the first half on its way to a 51-31 lead at the half, but Virginia’s Kihei Clark scored the final two points of the first half to kick-start a 20-2 run that wiped out almost all of N.C. State’s lead. Virginia finally tied the score at 67 on a difficult Braxton Key jumper from the left wing with 1:47 to play and Tomas Woldetensae’s 3-pointer to give the Cavaliers the lead rimmed out.
Hellems answered and the Wolfpack closed out the win, sparking a massive celebration that spilled out of the stands and onto the venerated coliseum floor.
SEMIFINALS
No. 5 N.C. State 82, No. 1 Florida State 80
NC STATE: Markell Johnson 16 points, 6 assists; Pat Andree 14 points; Braxton Beverly 13 points; C.J. Bryce 12 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists; DJ Funderburk 12 points, 6 rebounds.
FSU: Trent Forrest 14 points; M.J. Walker 13 points, 6 assists.
GAME NOTES: Wolfpack’s Beverly made a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left to extend the lead to four. Johnson hit two free throws with 31 seconds left to seal it.
No. 2 Virginia 70, No. 6 Syracuse 67
VIRGINIA: Mamadi Diakite 18 points, 8 rebounds; Jay Huff 13 points; Kihei Clark 11 points, 8 assists; Braxton Key 10 points, 12 rebounds.
SYRACUSE: Elijah Hughes 16 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists; Joseph Girard 12 points; Marek Dolezaj 11 points.
GAME NOTES: Virginia’s Key hit a jumper off a nice pass from Diakie with 49 second left to put UVA by a pair. He then hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to go up by three. Syracuse’s Hughes had what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer come up short with 4 seconds to play.
QUARTERFINALS
No. 1 Florida State 82, No. 8 Clemson 63
FSU: M.J. Walker 20 points, 9 rebounds; Trent Forrest 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists.
CLEMSON: Aamir Simms 22 points, 10 rebounds
GAME NOTE: 6-0 run to start the second half increased FSU’s led from 39-34 to 45-34 with 16:56 to play.
No. 5 N.C. State 85, No. 4 Duke 70
NCSTATE: C.J. Bryce 17 points; Markell Johnson 14 points, 10 rebounds; Jericole Hellems 14 points; DJ Funderburk 10 points.
DUKE: Tre Jones 16 points, 8 assists; Vernon Carey 16 points, 9 rebounds.
GAME NOTES: The Wolfpack went on a 13-4 run in the final 2:39 of the first half to grab a 41-28 lead. No Blue Devil besides Jones and Carey approached double figures in scoring. The win virtually ensures an NCAA tournament bid for the bubble-riding Wolfpack.
No. 2 Virginia 73, No. 7 Notre Dame 49
VIRGINIA: Tomas Woldetensae 25 points, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range; Braxton Key 14 points and 16 rebounds; Jay Huff 10 points and 10 rebounds.
NOTRE DAME: John Mooney 18 points and 12 rebounds.
GAME NOTE: Virginia led 41-21 at halftime and outrebounded Notre Dame 48-28.
No. 6 Syracuse 92, No. 3 Louisivlle 86
SYRACUSE: Joseph Girard 26 points, incuding 6 of 10 3-pointers; Elijah Hughes 25 points.
LOUISVILLE: Jordan Nwora 26 points.
GAME NOTE: Syracuse made 57 percent of its shots, including 48 percent from 3-point range.
This story was originally published March 14, 2020 at 4:06 PM with the headline "What could have been: N&O’s simulated ACC tournament winner is ... NC State!."