March Madness is still four months away, but Wednesday offered a possible taste of what’s to come this spring. With Wednesday’s first ACC/SEC Challenge in its final moments, Georgia guard Justin Hill knocked down a jumper with 1.5 seconds left, giving the Bulldogs not only a 68-66 victory, but also a 7: 7-tie SEC in the first edition of the event.
Seven games were played in the first leg of Tuesday’s event and the SEC took a 4-3 lead on the final day before the ACC won four of the final seven games. Overall, the SEC ranked teams finished 1-4 and the ACC ranked teams finished 1-2. UNC and Kentucky were the only teams to avoid an upset.
The top two matches of the event were no disappointment. No. 17 UNC made a statement with a 100-92 win over No. 10 Tennessee at home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Arkansas secured an 80-75 upset victory over No. 17 in front of a raucous crowd at Bud Walton Arena. 7 Duke in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Razorbacks suffered a handful of losses at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament last week before picking up their biggest win of the young season. The win over Duke was Eric Musselman’s 100th win at the school.
In previous years, the ACC competed against the Big Ten in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. However, the event ended last season after the Big Ten signed a new lucrative media rights deal that did not include ESPN. This resulted in the newly founded ACC/SEC Challenge.
ACC/SEC Challenge results on Wednesday
No. 17 North Carolina 100, No. 10 Tennessee 92: The Tar Heels became the first team to score 60 points in a half since February 15, 2006 against Tennessee, and a comprehensive team effort helped UNC to its biggest win of the young season. Armando Bacot, Harrison Ingram and RJ Davis each scored over 20 points and star freshman Elliot Cadeau added 10 assists in the win. Star transfer forward Dalton Knecht scored a season-high 37 points for Tennessee.
Arkansas 80, No. 7 Duke 75: Trevon Brazile scored 19 points and shot 4 of 7 from distance, and Khalif Battle added 19 off the bench, helping the Razorbacks to one of the biggest wins of the Musselman era. Arkansas suffered consecutive losses to Memphis and North Carolina before rebounding sharply despite a late push from the Blue Dervils. Duke star Kyle Filipowski recorded a double-double with xx points and xx rebounds.
Virginia 59, No. 14 Texas A&M 47: The Cavaliers put together an impressive defensive performance to hold the Aggies to 47 points and used a strong second half to pull away after falling behind late in the final moments of the first 20 minutes of play. All five Virginia starters scored in double figures while holding preseason All-American Wade Taylor lV to a season-low nine points.
Wake Forest 82, Florida 71: Wake Forest outscored Florida 50-35 in the second half and secured a home win with great performances from Hunter Sallis and Andrew Carr. After going 0-2 against SEC opponents in the first three weeks of the season, the Demon Deacons recorded their biggest win of the season at home and were now 4-3. Florida’s Riley Kugel recorded his third 20-plus point performance of the season.
Boston College 80, Vanderbilt 62: Quinten Post scored 24 points and Chaudell Harris Jr. added 22 to help Boston College to a stunning victory after a dominant first half. The Eagles held Vanderbilt to 23 points in the first 20 minutes and snapped a two-game losing streak after a 4-0 start to the season.
Florida State 68, Georgia 66: Perhaps the most exciting conclusion to the evening took place in Tallahassee, Florida. Hill knocked down a tough jumper to give the Bulldogs the win. Wednesday was Georgia’s third time playing an ACC team and they have a 2-1 record against the conference.
Auburn 74, Virginia Tech 57: Tigers star Johni Broome had his best performance of the season in the win over the Hokies. Thanks to 30 points and 13 rebounds from Broome, Auburn was in control throughout. The Tigers forced Virginia Tech star guard Sean Pedulla into his worst performance of the season.
ACC/SEC Challenge results on Tuesday
- No. 12 Kentucky 95, No. 8 Miami 73: The Wildcats had the most impressive performance of any team on day one. Kentucky outscored Miami 53:36 in the second half to secure a clear win. Five Kentucky players scored in double figures, and Reed Sheppard scored a team-best 19 points as a substitute. Star freshman Justin Edwards scored 11 points on efficient 5-of-7 shooting.
- Syracuse 80, LSU 57: Speaking of big wins, the Orange secured the biggest win of the Adrian Autry era by defeating the Tigers at the JWA Wireless Dome. Star guard Judah Mintz scored a season-high 33 points and added five rebounds and five assists in the win.
- Missouri 71, Pitt 64: The Tigers went on the road and defeated the Panthers by 21 points at Sean East II. After a devastating home loss to Jackson State earlier this month, Mizzou appears to be back on the right track.
- South Carolina 65, Notre Dame 53: Gamecocks star Meechie Johnson scored a career-high 29 points in a 65-53 win over the Fighting Irish. South Carolina improved to 6-0 this season, its best start since 2016-17. After Notre Dame took a two-point lead midway through the second half, South Carolina closed the game with a 27-13 run.
- Georgia Tech 67, No. 21 Mississippi State 59: The Yellow Jackets upset the No. 21 Bulldogs behind a 22-point, 12-rebound effort from Myles Kelly. MSU started the season 6-0 and was without potential All-American big man Tolu Smith due to injury.
- Ole Miss 72, NC State 52: The Rebels improved to 6-0 in the Chris Beard era with a blowout win over NC State at his home in Oxford, Mississippi. Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield scored a season-high 25 points and Allen Flanigan recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
- Clemson 85, No. 23 Alabama 77: In the final matchup on day one of the ACC/SEC Challenge, the Tigers took on Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and upset the Crimson Tide. Clemson’s star bigman PJ Hall scored 21 points and added eight rebounds and four blocks to help the Tigers move to 6-0.