Speaking of old games, what are yāallās top 5 REGULAR SEASON wins of the TB era. Hereās my list:
- Syracuse '14 (crowning moment of that season to win the ACC outright and we did it in primetime. Signaled to me that we had turned the corner and would be good for a long time)
- @Duke '18 (SEND IT IN JEROME)
- @UNC '19 (had lost tough game against Duke the game before and beat a really good UNC team in their building. Also did the same thing a few years earlier ('15) following a Duke home loss. Both wins were amazing but this one stands out because of the Guy four point play at the end)
- @Maryland '14 (was in attendance and heckled all game; felt so good to shut them up)
- @VT '17 (absolutely destroyed them at their place and signaled that we were way better than people had thought going into that year)
Thatās my listā¦ and YES, I know that Iām leaving off the Louisville Hunter bank 3 game. To me, that was a fun and exciting win, but it didnāt have a lot of implications. We were going to win the ACC anyway and were already looking at a 1 seed.
If you canāt tell, Iām a sucker for a good road win. Have almost taken them for granted in the TB era but remember, not so fondly, a time in which they were few and far between and only against bottom feeders in most cases.
Itās not top 5, but this past years win at Clemson was incredibly fun. They came in ranked 12th in the country with the #1 ranked KenPom defense and we kicked the absolute crap out of them in their own arena. Won by 35. Ultimately it didnāt mean a ton because we expect to win those games but it was just an awesome singular moment of Tony basically saying āYouāre not that guy palā to Brownell lol
- Duke ā13. The Joe Harris game. Also one of the few times TB let the guys hit the corner and party with the general student population in season. At least during my undergrad years.
- āCuse ā14. First ACC crown in however many years.
Huge gap
- Duke at JPJ in ā19. I know we lost but that event was HUGE. I mean LeBron was court side.
- Win over Duke in ā18. Just like Jerome mentioned above.
- Nova in Dec ā15. Two coaches that represent everything that is right about college sports. Really fun game. We beat the eventual national champs. Both sides full of NBA players.
Of ones that havenāt been mentioned, Cuse @ Dome 2019 when it rained 3s.
Harvard 2014, @Miami 2015, Cal 2015, UNC 2016 when Malcolm left no doubt vs. Brice Johnson, BC 2017 when Ty went for 30, Vermont 2019, @UNC 2020 Woldo 3 were some personal favorites even if they werenāt all pretty or that meaningful.
GREAT call about the Nova game. That was a hell of a game.
And had forgotten about the Duke game in '13. I was in grad school at the time and rushed the court. Remember turning to see where my friends were and accidentally elbowing some poor girl in the face. Felt really bad about that so maybe itās soured my memory of that game lol
@Maryland in 2019 was a nice one, coming off the Atlantis tournament win (over Wiscy), going there for the ACC/B1G challenge. Won comfortably though they scored a lot in the last minute to make it look closer. Came out hot, really shut up that stupid fanbase.
Another one Iām remembering now is the Kihei 3 point dagger against Tech two years ago. Added bonus that it was against VT
I was at that game too and the UMBC chants were constant. Felt great to just whoop their asses right out of the gate. Great call on that one
Just to throw one out that hasnāt been mentioned yet: the 2020 win over VT in Cassell where Kihei hit the game-icing three with like 2 seconds left. Hearing the air go out of that stadium was so much fun, especially after we blew a late double-digit lead and the crowd was going crazy.
(Jerome just mentioned this one while I was typing, but Iāll go ahead and click reply anyways)
I lost my phone on the court that Duke game lol Some guy picked it up and was nice enough to text a couple of my most recent contacts and brought it to me at trinity. His crew had a couple rounds with my group before the players started showing up and everyone got really rowdy.
This is also got me thinking of the losses during Tonyās tenure that weirdly stuck in my craw for one reason or another (excluding NCAA tournament). Almost all of them are long enough ago I can look back and laugh. Also we have so few of them in recent years that thereās not many to pick from. This is done in good spirits!
-v. Virginia Tech, Jan 2009: Had this one won, up by 10 near the end of the game, but took some inexplicable shots early in the shot clock and ended up losing in OT. Was Tonyās first season and I remember having doubts. I guess things turned out OK.
-@ Washington, Nov 2010: We were obliterated on national television. Torn limb from limb.
-Miami in ACC tournament, Mar 2011: What an almost amazing collapse. Took a long walk in the snow after that one.
-v. ODU, Dec 2012: I think this loss basically kept us out of the NCAA tournament that year. Losing at George Mason was semi-forgivable, and weād already used up our one inexplicable loss against Delaware. Was a solid squad that slipped up one too many times.
-v. VCU, Nov 2013: VCU hit a three with three seconds left and took us out in JPJ. Wanted that one back so badly.
-@ Louisville, Mar 2015: Mangok Mathiang hits the most bullshit jump shot of his career in what was otherwise a largely dominant regular season for us.
-@ Duke, Feb 2016: Greyson Allen travelled dammit.
-@ Villanova, Jan 2017: Was a great game and canāt be that upset, but was there to see it live. Almost knocked off the number one team at home. So damn close.
-v. VT, Feb 2018: Only game I get to go to all season and itās the only ACC game we lose. And we shot like trash while I tried to reassure my buddy who doesnāt watch college basketball that we were, in fact, really good.
-v. San Francisco, Nov 2020: I hated this game.
a few others now that i have a moment:
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vs FSU 2019 - went from a close game to a blowout in the last 8 min of the first half. Kyle torched them, lenny pressed us late to make it a respectable 13 point loss
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vs vpi 2019 - top 10 matchup, we ran them out of the gym from the tip.
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@ND in 2014, when Bobby Knight fell in love with London
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vs WVU in 2015, december home game where IIRC we sort of dominated from the jump. I remember a big Jack Salt dunk? not sure why lol. (edit - looked it up, we actually were down in the first half, blew them out 40-18 in the 2nd) (also i see Jack had 2 points on 1-2, so i hope the two were the dunk i think i remember)
It was a game with no stakes at all and little doubt about the winner, but I really enjoyed putting up 100 against Marshall during the 2018-19 season. The way it happened with Kerseyās buzzer-beater was one of my favorite moments from the season and the team rushing the court at the end was a sign of the great vibes that season.
This one was at MSG I think. We looked horrible against the press first 10 min and then pasted them the rest of the game
Only other win Iāve got that others havenāt mentioned was at Pitt in 2014. Malcolm hit the buzzer beater for the win. I just remember the feeling was āWait, this only ever happens against us. Things are changing!ā
Going to sound weird, but my most memorable regular season TB win was at Pitt in 2014ā¦want to say it was Super Bowl Sunday, when Malcolm hit the game winner.
Pitt was good that year, the Zoo was literally a zoo, and that was the type of game we would consistently get blown out the 10 years before TB arrived. We were rising in the polls going into that game, but to win that way, in that environment was when I became convinced the program was heading towards greatness. Before that game, I still had doubts.
Great game. I was there. WVU was coming back, thanks to a scrappy Jevon Carter, but Carter made a dumb pass on a fast break, and Huggy benched him the rest of the game. We probably would have won anyway, but Huggy guaranteed it. Ty Jerome and fam took in the game a few rows up.
Speaking of WVU Iāll never forget losing two years later in their Gym and some posters on the Sabre wanting us to bench Jerome for Nigel Johnson because he had a few costly turnovers. Little did we know he would go on to legendary status and weād only lose one more regular season game the rest of that season.
Yeah, that was a tough early test (as a starter), but good for him eventually