Men’s ACC Tournament Day 1 (3-10-2026)
By: Joe Dillard Jr.
Headline Photo Credit: ACC
(Day 1) ACC has two action-packed games however one blowout leads to some changes as well.
(1) #10 Stanford 63 vs #15 Pittsburgh 65
After jumping out to an early lead, Pittsburgh had Stanford on the ropes all night and what could have been a stepping stone for the Cardinals turned into heartache as the game was pretty much even after that early run but required Stanford to get back into the game as neither team led by more than 8 points. All ACC freshman guard Ebuka Okorie needed was a star-like performance versus a point guard-controlled approach. Finishing with 14 points was not enough and while all Cardinals who entered scored, you would wonder why they didn’t hand the keys to the freshmen to bring it home. Pitt on the other hand had no problem getting shots up as every starter had 10 shot attempts which comes from outrebounding Stanford 41-28 with 20 offensive rebounds. This outweighs Stanford going plus 15 from behind the arc hitting 8 while Pitt had only 3. Senior Barry Dunning Jr. led the way with 16 points and 8 rebounds with 3 steals. Pitt will advance to face #7 NC State on day two.
(2) #11 SMU 86 vs #14 Syracuse 69
Boopie Miller of SMU and Nate Kingz of Syracuse had a game-high 25 points however it was Boopie who would get more help as the Mustangs put all five starters in double figures along with Jaden Toombs and Samet Yigitoglu both had double-doubles to anchor SMU. Syracuse just didn’t have the higher-paid athletes produce, which will never end with success. Syracuse let go of coach Adrian Autry right after and we will see what direction the Orange go from here. Losers of four straight, this win could spark life into SMU, which has an outside chance for an NCAA berth but will need a deep run in the ACC tournament and has Louisville up next, and would really catch eyes if they could advance to the quarterfinal.
(3) #12 Virginia Tech 89 vs #13 Wake Forest 95 OT
Myles Colvin made big shot after big shot and led Wake Forest with 18 points as they survived a back-and-forth wild scoring game where both teams hit 8 threes along with over 20 made free throws. The thing is Wake Forest, normally led by ACC’s most improved Juke Harris had to rely on his teammates and they all delivered as 7 of the 8 men playing had double figures in points. Juke shot 4-18 and still Wake went 51% from the field, 36% from behind the arc, and 27-30 from the foul line which was amazing. The Hokies fought hard on the boards out-reboundingWake 45-28 and had 21 offensive rebounds that gave them multiple shots at each possession. Ben Hammond led the way with 23 points for the Hokies. Wake Forest will advance to face Clemson
