Jackets Hold off Canes in ACC Opener

Well, a win is a win - 80-69 in Miami's first official conference ACC game. I only caught parts of the 2nd half unfortunately. Miami showed a lot of grit and hustle to keep the game tight for awhile. They just couldn't get over the hump to get past the Jacket defense, which held the 'Canes to 37% shooting (20% from 3pt). Will Bynum gets my player of the game, leading the Jackets with 21 points (8-15), 7 assists, 0 to's, and a couple of boards. He really picked up the slack for the injured Elder.


Schenscher proves that from 5 feet in he's pretty good, finishing with 15pts, 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks. Jack finishes with 14 pts, 9 boards, 2 assists, 2 to's, 2 steals. Interestingly, the announcer noted that Jack is in the top 20 ACC players in rebounding, but has only 1 offensive board all year. Pretty wild.


Freshman A.Morrow and R.Dickey made solid contributions again. Morrow finishes with 11 pts (4-8, 3-6 3pt), 2 boards. By the way, Morrow plays 24 minutes. That's right - 24. I believe that's the most of any of the freshman all season. Dickey finishes with 6 pts (2-3), 6 boards (3 off), 2 assists, 1 to and 4 fouls in a mere 9 minutes of play. That's a lot of touches and "activity" for 9 minutes. For some reason, Buck Fredrick only played 1 minute. Not sure the story there.


Interestingly, Jack, McHenry and Bynum all go over 30 minutes, with Jack logging 37. I am starting to worry that Jack is once again logging more and more court time, which might wear him down towards the end of the season. It would be nice if Bynum or Fredrick could prove themselves at the point to give him more breaks. But things just run better when he is in - period.


All-in-all, a good win. Miami proved that they are going to give some ACC teams fits this year. They might win a lot of games, but they will win a few and make others close. They are athletic and fast. Frank Haith will do good things for that program in the years to come.


Go JACKETS!!! 1-0 in the ACC. Time for #2.