Saturday ACC Basketball

BARNES (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

#8 NORTH CAROLINA 74, CLEMSON 52 – And now “The Streak” stands at 56-0… – Harrison Barnes scored 24 points and Tyler Zeller added 14 points for the Tar Heels (23-4, 10-2 ACC), who held Clemson to 38 percent shooting and outrebounded the Tigers 39-26.

The Tar Heels have won three straight since their last-second loss to rival Duke, holding each opponent to 64 or fewer points.

"Everybody thinks that defense is just sweat and slobbering and yelling at guys and stuff, but you've got to know what you're doing," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "I think our guys are more in tune with our defensive principles right now."

Defense and rebounding offered the biggest positives on a day when the Tar Heels didn't look particularly sharp. Then again, they weren't in any serious danger of fumbling away that long winning streak -- an NCAA record for the most consecutive home wins over one opponent -- against the Tigers (13-13, 5-7).

#21 FLORIDA STATE 76, N.C. STATE 62 – The Seminoles victory over  North Carolina State on Saturday gave them victories against all four of the state's ACC schools in the same season for the first time.

Ian Miller scored 17 points, Bernard James had 12 and Okaro White and Michael Snaer each finished with 10 to help Florida State (19-7, 10-2) improve to 4-0 against North Carolina's four highest-profile programs.

The Seminoles will go for the sweep next Thursday when Duke (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) makes a return trip to Tallahassee.

(Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer)

"We're not from Tobacco Road where everyone pays attention to basketball," Snaer said. "There's an added emotion. You're up here, and you want to win every single game. All of the North Carolina teams are very strong, so talented, and we want to take the challenge."

They never trailed, shot 49 percent, led by double figures for the entire second half, held NC State to 29 percent shooting -- its worst of the season, by far -- and forced 17 turnovers. That helped Florida State win its third straight and remain atop the league standings.

C.J. Leslie scored 21 points to lead the Wolfpack (18-9, 7-5), but the rest of the team combined to shoot 9 of 44 in their second straight loss with both coming to nationally ranked teams in the span of fewer than 48 hours.

#22 VIRGINIA 71, MARYLAND 44 – That’s not a misprint, if you looked at the box score of this game, the Terps scored 13 points in the second half.  THIRTEEN. 

Mike Scott told his Virginia teammates that three losses in four games was nothing to panic over, and then went out and put them at ease with a dominating performance.

MYCHAL PARKER and MIKE SCOTT (Andrew Shurtleff/AP)

The senior forward had 25 points and seven rebounds and No. 22 Virginia took command with a 16-0 run early in the second half and beat Maryland 71-44 on Saturday.

"We're fine," Scott said he told his teammate, even after an injury to No. 2 scorer Joe Harris made it seem as if offense was going to be scarce. "At Carolina, our defense didn't hold up. At Clemson, we turned the ball over. We were just paying for our mistakes."

The Cavaliers kept those to a minimum against the Terrapins, turning the ball over just seven times and making Maryland earn everything it got on offense.

Virginia scored 16 consecutive points in the second half after Maryland hit a jumper to start the half, and the Terrapins went 8:18 before notching another point. They finished 5 for 24 after halftime, 0-for-6 on 3-pointers and shot 26.9 percent for the game.

Mike Scott (23) blocks a shot by Maryland forward Mychal Parker (11) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday Feb. 18, 2012 in Charlottesville, Va. (AP Photo/Andrew Shurtleff)

MIAMI 74, WAKE FOREST 56 – Kenny Kadji and Durand Scott scored 18 points each to lead Miami to a victory over Wake Forest Saturday afternoon.

The Hurricanes (16-9, 7-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored 13 unanswered points during a 4:29 span early in the second half. Shane Larkin's 3-pointer with 11:44 left ended the run and gave Miami a 56-42 advantage.

C.J. Harris' lay-up with 11:31 remaining ended the Deacons' drought. Miami outscored Wake Forest 10-4 in the next 3:31 behind consecutive 3-pointers from Kadji and Garrius Adams for a 64-48 lead.

Reggie Johnson's layup with 5:42 remaining gave the Hurricanes their first 20-point lead at 70-50.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Hurricanes (16-9, 7-5 ACC).

Harris scored 14 points to lead Wake Forest, which has lost seven of its last eight. The Deacons (12-15, 3-10) shot 52 percent from the field in the first half but 30 in the second half.

Miami capitalized on a 39-24 advantage in rebounds, including 15-5 on the offensive end.

ERICK GREEN (Kyle Green/AP Photo)

VIRGINIA TECH 74, GEORGIA TECH 73 – OT – v Dorenzo Hudson made a 3-pointer as time expired in overtime to lift Virginia Tech to a 74-73 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets took a 73-71 lead on a jumper by Mfon Udofia with 5 seconds remaining, and Virginia Tech called a timeout with 3.5 seconds left.

After the timeout, Jarell Eddie caught the ball in the corner and nearly lost control. But he passed the ball out of a double team and found Hudson, who launched the game-winning shot for the Hokies (15-12, 4-8 ACC).

Erick Green finished with 14 points and could've won the game in regulation for Virginia Tech, but his jumper missed. Cadarian Raines added a career-high 13 points for the Hokies, who lost on a last-second shot by Florida State on Thursday.

Georgia Tech (9-17, 2-10), which has lost nine of its past 10 games and 13 of 15, got a game-high 18 points from Kammeon Holsey.

The Yellow Jackets played the game without leading scorer and rebounder Glen Rice, Jr., who was suspended indefinitely by coach Brian Gregory on Friday for undisclosed reason.