Saturday ACC Basketball

ZELLER (Grant Halverston/Getty Images)

#17  FLORIDA STATE 64, MIAMI 59 - Despite being about 50 pounds lighter than his 6-foot-10, 290-pound counterpart at center, Bernard James scored 15 of his career-high-tying 18 points Saturday and No. 15/17 FSU earned a win over the visiting Hurricanes.

With the help of the Seminoles' (17-7, 8-2 ACC) guard pressure, James limited Johnson to four points. He also added six rebounds and four blocks and several second-half dunks that excited the Donald L. Tucker Center's capacity crowd.

#5 NORTH CARLOLINA 70, #20 VIRGINIA 52 - The Tar Heels bounced back by winning a slow grinding game against a good Wahoo defense, but their lack of three-point production is a big issue as various tournaments get closer. 

Tyler Zeller had 25 points and Harrison Barnes added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (21-4, 8-2 ACC), who regrouped from Wednesday night's stunning loss to rival Duke on a last-second 3-pointer. North Carolina blew the game open with a 22-5 run that started early in the second half, with Zeller scoring seven points during the spurt that pushed the Tar Heels to a 15-point lead with about 6 1/2 minutes left.

The Cavaliers (19-5, 6-4) got no closer than 11 points again, with the Tar Heels avoiding any kind of repeat of blowing a double-digit lead in the final 2 1/2 minutes against the Blue Devils. 

CLEMSON 78, WAKE FOREST 58 - Tanner Smith scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half as Clemson snapped a three-game losing skid with a victory over Wake Forest on Saturday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers improved to 12-12 on the season, 4-6 in the ACC. The Demon Deacons fell to 11-14 overall, 2-9 in conference play.

MILES PLUMLEE (Sara D. Davis/AP Photo)

With the win, the Tigers earned their first win at Wake Forest since the facility's first season in 1989-90 (89-75 Clemson win). Clemson had dropped 18 consecutive games to the Deacons in Winston-Salem. Clemson also earned a regular season sweep over Wake for the first time since that same ACC championship season. In addition, Clemson coach Brad Brownell became the first Tiger mentor to win each of his first three games against Wake Forest.

#9 DUKE 73, MARYLAND 55 - Miles Plumlee had 13 points and a career-high 22 rebounds as the Blue Devils shook off a slow start to beat the Terps.

Seth Curry scored 19 points and Mason Plumlee added 16 points and 10 rebounds while big brother Miles became the first Duke player with 20 rebounds since Elton Brand in 1998.

The Blue Devils (21-4, 8-2 ACC) followed up their last-second victory over rival North Carolina with their fifth straight victory in the series. They built a 48-33 rebounding advantage but struggled to separate themselves on the scoreboard until they closed the game with a 13-2 run.