Louisville, Hokies keep chasing top-4 spot

A look at the upcoming week around the Atlantic Coast Conference:

Game of the weekend

Louisville at Virginia Tech. The Cardinals and Hokies enter the nextto-last weekend of the ACC’s regular season trying to overtake No. 15 Clemson in the standings and earn one of the top-four seeds and tworound byes in the conference tournament. Louisville (18-10, 8-7) is coming off a blowout loss to No. 5 Duke while Virginia Tech (20-8, 9-6) knocked off the Tigers to pull even with them and with N.C. State with three league games remaining.

Looking ahead

All eyes are on Clemson in that fourth spot in the standings — at least, for now. A three-game losing streak has made the Tigers’ position tenuous, and they face another test from a nationally ranked opponent when they host a rematch with No. 25 Florida State on Wednesday night.

Player to watch

Doral Moore has been a bright spot in a rough year for Wake Forest, which needed him to step up after John Collins left for the NBA following a sophomore season that ended in the NCAA Tournament. Moore entered Wednesday night’s game at Pittsburgh leading the ACC and ranking second nationally with a shooting percentage of .706. He’s on pace to break the league record of .697 set by UNC’s Brendan Haywood in 2000.

Inside the numbers

The ACC’s top three teams in the national rankings — No. 1 Virginia, No. 5 Duke and No. 10 North Carolina — also rank highly in Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency rankings. The ACC is the only conference with three teams in the top 10, with the Cavaliers first, the Blue Devils third and Tar Heels seventh. Only one other conference — the Big Ten — has multiple teams in the top 10.