Orangeyes Daily Articles for Wednesday for Basketball

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Welcome to Boxing Day!

Boxing Day is a day of the gathering of family and friends. Leftovers from Christmas are commonly eaten. Popular foods include baked ham, mince pies, Christmas cakes, and other desserts. In many countries of celebration, it is a shopping day similar to Black Friday. Sales take place and many retailers run them the whole week. Although, in some places, such as in parts of Canada, stores aren't allowed to be open, in order to give families time to be together instead.

SU News

New AP men’s basketball poll drops; where are Syracuse’s ACC opponents? (PS; Ditota)

There’s a new No. 1 in men’s college basketball this week. Kansas lost at Arizona State on Saturday and the Jayhawks slipped from the top spot.

The new No. 1? The Duke Blue Devils.

Here’s the newest AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll:

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 23, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

†^ ‡Record•••Pts•Prv

1. Duke (35) ‡ 11-1 1529 2
2. Michigan (9) ‡ 12-0 1472 4
3. Tennessee (12) ‡ 10-1 1471 3
4. Virginia (4) ‡ 11-0 1427 5
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ACC Power Rankings: Syracuse basketball remains in bottom half (PS; Carlson)

The Atlantic Coast Conference headed into a brief winter break with one big win and another big opportunity that slipped away. The big win came from a Triangle team that hadn't challenged itself very much this season, while the loss came from another Tobacco Road team that once again came up short in a battle of blue bloods.

This week's schedule will be light. Four teams don't play, and there are no ACC games until Friday.

15. Wake Forest
Record: 6-4 (0-0)
Last week's results: Win 67-63 vs. Davidson; Loss 83-64 at Tennessee
Last week's ranking: 15
This week's schedule: Saturday vs. Gardner-Webb
What's not to like: Wake Forest's defense was bad against Tennessee, continuing a season-long trend. Tennessee shot 53.3 percent and turned the ball over just five times. Wake Forest's defense is the worst in the ACC by a considerable margin.
What's to like: The Davidson win was Wake Forest's best of the season. Sophomore Chaundee Brown, a highly-ranked recruit last year, scored a season-high 19 points against Tennessee and has scored in double-digits in five consecutive games. Wake Forest has been waiting for him to pick his game up.
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Virginia basketball notebook: Cavaliers have faced few challenges in nonconference play (godandriver.com; Needelman)

After Virginia’s 69-52 win over South Carolina last Wednesday, USC coach Frank Martin took offense to the notion that he had scheduled “soft” opponents in years past, compared to a tougher schedule this season.

“There’s nothing soft in my body, how I was raised, how I live, how I’ve ever coached,” Martin said. “Go back and look at the schedules I put together as a head high school coach. I don’t believe in soft. Anything soft and me are never getting along.”

With the Cavaliers rounding out their nonconference schedule Dec. 31 against Marshall (7-5), it’s worth noting that the ‘Hoos have rarely played commensurate competition so far this season. Virginia has a strength of schedule rating of -3.01, which checks in at No. 273 in the nation, according to KenPom.com.
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Kevin Keatts is a sorcerer. Dave Doeren is a bricklayer. And Debbie Yow should never leave. (backingthepack.com; Essad)

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Part 2: Kevin Keatts is a sorcerer
On the flip side, we have this dude:

NC State Basketball on Instagram: “All we have to say about Coach Keatts’ shoe game : ”

All we have to say about Coach Keatts’ shoe game :

A post shared by NC State Basketball (@packmensbball) on Dec 5, 2018 at 4:20pm PST

Kevin Keatts inherited a program that, well the less said the better. In 1.3 seasons, he has revamped the culture at NC State. No easy task, but his infectious personality has allowed him to set a high standard that his players are pushing themselves 100% at all times to live up to. Torin Dorn was pretty candid recently (the day before the Auburn game) when talking about just how much of an impact Keatts has had in a short time:

And send the Caulton Tudor Media Award plaque to the engravers @LukeDeCock for this exchange with Torin Dorn: pic.twitter.com/FAmfenqeGo

— Joe Giglio (@jwgiglio) December 18, 2018
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Other


Greetings from the back room of Hercules Candy in East Syracuse, where the chocolate waterfall flows freely. Video by Katrina Tulloch.