ACC tourney roundup: BC freshman’s 41 leads Eagles past Georgia Tech

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Olivier Hanlan set an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament record for freshmen with 41 points and Boston College beat Georgia Tech 84-64 on Thursday in the first round.

The ACC’s rookie of the year had the highest-scoring game in the tournament by any player regardless of class since 1970 and broke the old mark of 40 set two years ago by North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes.

He was 14 of 18, made his final 12 shots and was a one-man show in bringing the eighth-seeded Eagles (16-16) back from an early 15-0 deficit and into a Friday quarterfinal against No. 9 Miami, the tournament’s top seed.

Marcus Georges-Hunt had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the ninth-seeded Yellow Jackets (16-15), who have lost five of seven and now are likely left to hope for an invitation to the NIT.

Hanlan’s eight 3-pointers — one shy of a tournament record — matched the second most by any player in the history of the event.

He scored 25 points during the 37-10 run that flipped BC’s 14-point deficit into a 13-point lead, 51-38 with 14:41 remaining, and put the Eagles well on their way to just their second ACC tournament victory since 2009.

The only drama down the stretch was whether he’d catch Barnes — or even Lennie Rosenbluth’s 56-year-old record of 45 points for any player regardless of class.

He passed Barnes with about 2:45 left when he took a kick-out pass from Ryan Anderson on the left wing and launched an open 3-pointer that circled the rim and clipped the backboard before dropping through.

He exited for good with 2:13 remaining, bringing an end to the eighth 40-point performance in tournament history and the highest-scoring game since North Carolina’s Charles Scott had 41 in the 1970 quarterfinals.

Joe Rahon had 15 points and Anderson added 11 points — including a behind-the-back drive down the lane and past Robert Carter Jr. for a dunk that would have been the signature highlight in any other game.

Patrick Heckmann finished with 10 points and Eddie Odio had 10 rebounds for BC. Mfon Udofia had 10 points for Georgia Tech.

The opening game of the tournament matched two of the youngest teams in the league.

Eleven of the 14 players on BC’s roster are freshmen or sophomores — including Hanlan — while the Yellow Jackets start three freshmen around Udofia, the lone senior on their team — and the rookies certainly stole the show in this one.

These young Eagles — the preseason pick to finish last in the league — finally figured out how to win down the stretch. They came to Greensboro on a three-game winning streak and claimed their second win over Georgia Tech in a six-day span.

It looked like Georges-Hunt — the only ACC freshman to lead his team in scoring — would be the best rookie on the court early, hitting two early 3s to help the Yellow Jackets race out to a short-lived 15-0 lead.

Then, Hanlan took over — and the Eagles dominated the rest of the way.

GEORGIA TECH (16-15)
Udofia 4-11 0-0 10, Georges-Hunt 8-20 2-6 21, Carter 3-11 1-1 7, Miller 1-6 3-4 5, Bolden 0-6 2-4 2, Royal 0-0 0-0 0, Morris 2-2 0-0 5, Reed 3-9 1-2 8, Holsey 3-9 0-0 6, Poole 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-75 9-17 64.

BOSTON COLLEGE (16-16)
Anderson 5-12 1-2 11, Hanlan 14-18 5-6 41, Clifford 0-1 0-0 0, Rahon 5-11 2-2 15, Heckmann 4-9 0-0 10, Perpiglia 0-0 0-0 0, Odio 3-5 0-0 7, Caudill 0-0 0-0 0, Cain Carney 0-0 0-0 0, Jacobs 0-1 0-0 0, Van Nest 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Rubin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 8-10 84.

Halftime—Boston College 38-33. 3-Point Goals—Georgia Tech 7-23 (Georges-Hunt 3-6, Udofia 2-4, Morris 1-1, Reed 1-4, Poole 0-1, Carter 0-3, Bolden 0-4), Boston College 14-24 (Hanlan 8-10, Rahon 3-5, Heckmann 2-5, Odio 1-1, Van Nest 0-1, Jackson 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Georgia Tech 43 (Georges-Hunt 11), Boston College 38 (Odio 10). Assists—Georgia Tech 9 (Miller, Udofia 3), Boston College 17 (Rahon 7). Total Fouls—Georgia Tech 12, Boston College 16. A—NA.

Maryland 75, Wake Forest 62

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Dez Wells scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and Maryland beat pesky Wake Forest on Thursday night in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Alex Len and Seth Allen added 11 points for the seventh-seeded Terrapins (21-11).

They struggled for about 30 minutes against a Wake Forest team they previously beat twice by a combined 36 points.

But they held the Demon Deacons without a field goal for a critical 8 ½-minute stretch while using a late 24-8 run to pull away for their seventh straight win in the series. Maryland will face No. 2 Duke, the tournament’s second seed, in the quarterfinals Friday night.

C.J. Harris scored 19 points and Devin Thomas added 14 for the 10th-seeded Demon Deacons (13-18). They ended their season by losing 10 of 13 and were denied their first ACC tournament win since 2007.

WAKE FOREST (13-18)
Miller-McIntyre 2-7 1-2 6, Thomas 6-10 2-3 14, Harris 5-15 6-8 19, McKie 4-9 0-2 8, Adala Moto 1-3 2-4 4, Jones 4-4 1-2 9, Fischer 1-4 0-0 2, Rountree III 0-0 0-0 0, Cavanaugh 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 12-21 62.

MARYLAND (21-11)
Faust 2-7 5-6 10, Howard 3-3 3-4 10, Len 4-6 2-2 11, Wells 7-10 5-6 21, Padgett 0-1 1-2 1, Mitchell 2-4 2-3 6, Aronhalt 1-3 0-1 3, Allen 3-8 4-5 11, Layman 0-3 0-0 0, Cleare 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-48 22-29 75.

Halftime—Wake Forest 35-30. 3-Point Goals—Wake Forest 4-18 (Harris 3-8, Miller-McIntyre 1-3, Cavanaugh 0-1, Fischer 0-2, McKie 0-4), Maryland 7-15 (Wells 2-2, Howard 1-1, Len 1-1, Allen 1-2, Aronhalt 1-3, Faust 1-4, Layman 0-2). Fouled Out—Adala Moto. Rebounds—Wake Forest 31 (Miller-McIntyre 7), Maryland 35 (Faust 6). Assists—Wake Forest 15 (Thomas 4), Maryland 13 (Len 4). Total Fouls—Wake Forest 21, Maryland 19. A—NA.

Florida State 73, Clemson 69

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Michael Snaer hit four free throws in the final 22.4 seconds to help reigning champion Florida State hold off Clemson in Thursday's late game.

Snaer finished with 10 points for the sixth-seeded Seminoles (18-14), who let a 14-point lead with 3 minutes left slip to a single bucket late. But his last two free throws with 6.9 seconds showing made it a two-possession game and helped FSU hang on.

Okaro White scored a career-high 24 points for FSU, while Terrance Shannon added 12 - including six straight to spark a 14-3 second-half run that helped the Seminoles take control after trailing by 10 in the first half.

Florida State advanced to Friday's quarterfinals to face third-seeded North Carolina.

Jordan Roper scored 18 to lead the 11th-seeded Tigers (13-18), who lost their seventh straight to close their worst season in nine years.

CLEMSON (13-18)
Jennings 3-9 1-2 7, McDaniels 6-9 2-3 16, Booker 4-8 2-4 11, Hall 1-4 5-8 7, Roper 3-11 9-13 18, Harrison 3-9 0-1 7, Filer 1-1 0-0 3, Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0, Nnoko 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 19-31 69.

FLORIDA ST. (18-14)
White 8-11 7-7 24, Ojo 0-0 0-0 0, Bookert 3-4 4-8 12, Thomas 2-3 0-0 5, Snaer 3-10 4-4 10, Gilchrist 0-0 0-0 0, Turpin 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 0-4 0-0 0, Whisnant II 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon 2-3 3-6 8, Shannon 4-8 4-5 12, Bojanovsky 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 22-45 24-32 73.

Halftime—Clemson 35-30. 3-Point Goals—Clemson 8-17 (Roper 3-3, McDaniels 2-3, Booker 1-1, Filer 1-1, Harrison 1-3, Hall 0-1, Jennings 0-5), Florida St. 5-13 (Bookert 2-2, Brandon 1-1, Thomas 1-1, White 1-3, Snaer 0-3, Miller 0-3). Fouled Out—McDaniels, Miller, Shannon. Rebounds—Clemson 32 (Harrison 8), Florida St. 28 (Bookert, Snaer 5). Assists—Clemson 12 (Hall 5), Florida St. 11 (Snaer 5). Total Fouls—Clemson 24, Florida St. 23. A—22,169.

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