With the announcement Monday that the ACC and SEC will begin a new challenge in 2023, this year marks the 23rd and final chapter of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The announcement came only a few months after the Big Ten announced a media rights package that won’t include ESPN.
The ACC defeated the Big Ten 8-6 in this year’s competition.
The ACC won the first 10 events from 1999 to 2008, but since then the Big Ten has gone 8-2-3, including three straight wins dating back to 2019.
Monday’s games
- Virginia Tech 67, Minnesota 57: The Hokies had two players score in double figures, led by Sean Pedulla, who had 17 points. Justyn Mutts added 16 points, nine rebounds, two steals and three blocks and Grant Basile added nine points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Led by Mutts’ three offensive rebounds, Virginia Tech did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 11 boards that resulted in 13 second chance points. The Virginia Tech defense held Minnesota shooters to only 36.7 percent from the field, including 26.1 percent from three-point range. The Golden Gophers did not get many second opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only eight offensive rebounds and scored eight second chance points while Virginia Tech pulled down 31 defensive rebounds.
- Pittsburgh 87, Northwestern 58: Five Panthers scored in double figures as Pitt posted its top offensive performance of the season. The Panthers extended their win streak to four-straight games after recording a season-high 14 three-point field goals and shooting 63.6 percent from beyond the arc. Pitt did an excellent job distributing the ball, recording a season-high 22 assists on 26 field goals. Blake Hinson led the way with 22 points, including recording four threes, with eight rebounds and five assists. Two other Panthers scored season highs, Greg Elliot (18) and Nelly Cummings (17) while Jamarius Burton added 14 points and Nike Sibande came off the bench and contributed 11 points by knocking down three baskets from three-point range and a pair of free throws.
Tuesday’s games
- No. 22 Maryland 79, Louisville 54: Maryland jumped all over Louisville early and often and cruised to victory. Kevin Willard’s Terps remain unbeaten heading into a big showdown Friday night against Big Ten foe No. 16 Illinois. The Terps led 37-26 at halftime and opened up the second half on a shooting tear, knocking down each one of their first five attempts from behind the arc and pushing their lead to 20. Don Carey and Donta Scott knocked down two triples apiece. Maryland shot 6-of-11 from deep in the second half and made nine overall. Scott and Jahmir Young both had huge nights for the Terps. Scott led the way with 18 points, including a trio of threes. Young poured in 15, handed out a game-high five assists and added five boards. The two combined for 23 of Maryland’s 37 first half points.
- Clemson 101, Penn State 94: The Nittany Lions were within one at 63-62 with 2:49 to play, but four Clemson free throws and Hunter Tyson’s third 3-pointer of the night comprised a 7-2 Tiger that gave Clemson a 69-62 lead with 51 seconds to play. A Jalen Pickett layup and pair of free throws from both Seth Lundy and Camren Wynter brought Penn State closer and the Nittany Lions were down 71-68 with 10 seconds to play. Andrew Funk banked a game-tying 3-pointer with just under five seconds left on the clock to send the game to overtime. Neither team led by more than two in the back-and-forth first overtime period. Penn State was up 83-81 following a Wynter jumper with 21 seconds left, but Clemson forced double overtime with a Hall layup with five seconds left. The two teams were tied at 88 just over two minutes into the second overtime period following a Lundy triple. A quick 6-0 Clemson spurt in a 1:22 stretch gave the Tigers the edge before Clemson went 7-for-8 at the line in the final 50 seconds to seal the 101-94 double-overtime victory.
- No. 16 Illinois 73, Syracuse 44: Coleman Hawkins notched the first Illinois triple-double in two seasons, recording 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Hawkins is the fourth Illini in program history to record a triple-double, while the win marked head coach Brad Underwood 100th victory with the Orange and Blue. Terrence Shannon Jr. led all scorers with 17 points, and RJ Melendez and Jayden Epps also finished in double figures in the 29-point win. Syracuse is 3-4 for the first time in coach Jim Boeheim’s tenure.
- Wake Forest 78, Wisconsin 75: The Demon Deacons quieted a rowdy Kohl Center crowd in a huge resume building win for a potential bubble team in Wake Forest. Senior guard Tyree Appleby had 32 points on 11-for-16 shooting along with five assists and three rebounds. England native Cameron Hildreth had 15 points and Damari Monsanto added in 13 points. Wake Forest improves to 7-1 as they will visit Clemson on Friday.
- Iowa 81, Georgia Tech 65: Kris Murray had career highs of 31 points and 20 rebounds. Murray was 11-of-18 shooting, including 4 of 8 on 3-point attempts. Filip Rebraca added 13 points and seven rebounds. Tony Perkins scored 11 points and Connor McCaffery had 10 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double for the Hawkeyes (6-1), who fell out of The Associated Press Top 25 rankings this week after a loss to TCU on Saturday.
It was déjà vu for Iowa fans in Carver-Hawkeye Arena tonight as Kris Murray, twin brother of Keegan Murray, went off for a career-high 31 points.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 30, 2022
Murray is the 1st major conference player with 30 points, 20 rebounds and 4 3-pointers in a game since Kevin Durant in 2007. pic.twitter.com/qtroKARL3i
- No. 3 Virginia 70, Michigan 68: Jayden Gardner made a go-ahead jumper with 39.9 seconds left and blocked Jett Howard’s 3-point shot just before the buzzer, allowing No. 3 Virginia to stay undefeated. The Cavaliers (6-0) won their first true road game against a team that was ranked in the first two polls this season, a little more than a week after beating then-No. 5 Baylor and then-No. 19 Illinois in Las Vegas.”It got pretty intense in here,” coach Tony Bennett said.
Wednesday’s games
- No. 17 Duke 81, No. 25 Ohio State 72: The Blue Devils (7-2) went on a 14-3 run at the end of the first half and never looked back. Kyle Filipowski continues to impress for Duke, dropping a team high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Dereck Lively II had a career high 11 points while Duke’s backcourt duo of Tyrese Proctor (12) and Jeremey Roach (13) combined for 25 points. The Blue Devils will host Boston College (5-3) on Saturday in their first ACC game of the year.
- No. 5 Purdue 79, Florida State 69: Purdue (7-0), coming off a week in which they beat Duke and Gonzaga, got off to a slow start against Florida State (1-8) but were able to pull away in the second half. Zach Edey continues to terrorize defenses as he put up 25 points and eight rebounds on an efficient 11-of-14 shooting. Braden Smith had 13 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists on 4-of-10 shooting. Fletcher Loyer added 11 points. The Boilermakers will face off against Minnesota (4-3) on Sunday for their first taste of Big 10 play.
- Miami 68, Rutgers 61: Miami (7-1) was able to climb itself out of an 11 point deficit as Nijel Pack drilled a late-three to put the Hurricanes up five following a wide open missed layup by Aundre Hyatt. Norchard Omier and Jordan Miller both had 17 points off the bench for Miami while New Jersey native Isaiah Wong added 16 of his own on 7-for-12 shooting. Jim Larrañaga’s will visit 0-7 Louisville on Sunday in their first ACC matchup of the season. For Rutgers (5-2), Cliff Omoruyi continues to dominate as he had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds. Caleb McConnell had 16 points off the bench while Hyatt chipped in with 11. The Scarlet Knights will host No. 10 Indiana (7-0) on Saturday.
- Notre Dame 70, No. 20 Michigan State 51: The Irish ran Michigan State (5-3) right out of the gym from the opening tip. Since going down 2-0, Notre Dame (6-1) ripped off a 31-11 run within 10 minutes and kept the lead from there. Cormac Ryan had 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field while also going 6-of-7 on three pointers. J.J. Starling had 14 points despite going 0-for-7 from three and Dane Goodwin added 12. Notre Dame will host Syracuse (3-4) on Saturday. The Spartans have a chance to bounce back Sunday against Northwestern (5-2) as they continue to look shaky after an early season win against No. 19 Kentucky.
- Nebraska 88, Boston College 67: Despite only leading by three at half, Nebraska was able to blowout Boston College thanks to a 16-2 run to start the second. As a team the ‘Huskers shot 61.5% from the field as well as 12-of-23 from three. Keisei Tominaga tied his career high with 23 points off the bench while shooting 7-of-8 from the field. Four starters reached double-digits for Nebraska as well as they now look to upset No. 7 Creighton (6-1) on the road Sunday.
- No. 10 Indiana 77, No. 18 North Carolina 65: In the most highly anticipated matchup of the slate, Indiana (7-0) only trailed once as they handed North Carolina (5-3) their third straight loss. The Hoosiers only made three threes in this one but their defense and post play carried them throughout. Star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis had a team-high 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Two other starters in Xavier Johnson (20) and Jalen Hood-Schifino (14) reached double-figures while Trey Galloway added 11 off the bench. Indiana will travel to Rutgers (5-2) on Saturday while North Carolina looks to stop the bleeding at Virginia Tech (7-1) on Sunday.
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