Of the four conference championships decided on Sunday, the ACC contest brought out the best shooters, and, for those who have been screaming about the lack off offense in the college game this season, the highest score.The Hurricanes' 87-77 victory over North Carolina was the icing on the cake that saw Miami wqin its first regular season ACC title, followed up by confident victories in the tournament and a first outright title in the nine years in which its been a member of the ACC.
The game saw 25 of 51 three-point shots find their marks. Both PJ Hairston of the Tar Heels and Miami's Trey McKinney-Jones made six, but it was the small ball of Hurricane point guard Shane Larkin that carried the day. Larkin matched Hairston with 28 points, sealing the deal with six consecutive free throws without a miss in the final minute.
Larkin also made four three pointers on 8-for-15 shooting overall, was a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line, dished seven assists, collected five rebounds and made a pair of steals. He was also the only player from either team to play all forty minutes.
While the great accomplishments of the Hurricanes this season cannot be overstated, they still did not measure up to the NCAA tournament committee's standards which saw fit to put them in as a #2 seed, albeit in the East Region, which will provide them with some semblance of court familiarity.
With the brackets set for the Big Dance, later today, College Basketball Daily will post a breakdown of some of the key first and second round games, insights into the overall tournament and picks for the Final Four and National Championship.
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