Big Ten/ACC Challenge (Day 3)

The Big Ten/ACC Challenge does not disappoint. The night featured six match-ups, two overtime games, one three point shootout, and five games decided by 8 points or fewer. This was a great night of college basketball. The night ended in a 3-3 split, keeping the challenge even at 4-4. These conferences are so balanced top-to-bottom that this could easily be the third time in four years that the challenge ends in a draw.

Ranked teams fared well on Tuesday, with the exception of number 2 ranked Maryland who fell at the hands of a full strength Tar Heel Squad. This was the match-up that had everyone excited and basketball fans got what they had hoped for. This had the feel of a classic ACC contest with little brother Maryland trying to knock off UNC in the Dean Smith Center. On Tuesday UNC wasn’t having it. The highly anticipated return of Marcus Paige lived up to the hype, as the senior went off for 20 points and 5 assists, while turning the ball over only once. This game ended up being the point guard battle that we thought it would. Trimble matched the play of Paige by posting 23 points and a career high 12 assists. However, Trimble has ball control issues and turned the ball over 8 times, contributing over a third of the Terps 22 turnovers. Sulaimon pitched in for 18 points for Maryland and Brice Johnson contributed 16 points in the winning effort for UNC. Both teams shot over 50% from the field and 45% from behind the arch in an 89-81 shootout.

Tuesday’s Betting Results
*Picks are in bold

Correct Picks
Michigan (-1) at NC State           Michigan 66-59 NC State
Miami at Nebraska (+6.5)           Miami 77-72 Nebraska
Purdue (+1) at Pittsburgh             Purdue 72-59 Pittsburgh

Wash
Northwestern (-2) at Va Tech     Northwestern 81-79 Va Tech

Incorrect Picks
Virginia (-8.5) at Ohio State         Virginia 64-58 Ohio State
Maryland (+6) at UNC                Maryland 81-89 UNC

Wednesday’s Selections
(24) Louisville (5-0) at (3) Michigan State (7-0) (-5.5), 7:15 ET, ESPN
Wisconsin (4-3) at (14) Syracuse (6-0) (-4.5), 7:15 ET, ESPN2
Penn State (3-2) (+1) at Boston College (3-3), 7:15 ET, ESPNU
Indiana (5-2) (+10) at (7) Duke (6-1), 9:15 ET, ESPN
Notre Dame (4-2) (-2.5) at Illinois (3-4), 9:15 ET, ESPN2
Florida State (4-1) at Iowa (4-2) (-4.5), 9:15 ET, ESPNU

Grayson Gold-Garvey