March 11, 2007

• Between them, North Carolina and N.C. State have won 25 ACC Tournaments, 15 by the Tar Heels and 10 by the Wolfpack. Obviously, since one will win today, that combined total will be 26 in the event's 54 years. Add Duke's 16, and the three schools from North Carolina's Research Triangle area have won all but 12 championships in ACC history. Maryland in 2004 was the last school from outside that group to capture the title.
• N.C. State set an ACC Tournament record for a single game by failing to gain an offensive rebound against Virginia Tech in its semifinals victory. The previous record was one, set by N.C. State in 1988. The Wolfpack has 15 offensive rebounds, third-fewest by any team in a three-game span. The 1997 N.C. State squad that played four games, losing to North Carolina in the finals, set a record with 12 offensive rebounds in three outings.
• Gavin Grant's 11 free throws made in 11 attempts against Virginia Tech was the most efficient single-game ACC Tournament performance by an N.C. State player. Ten other players made at least 11-of-11 in an ACC Tournament contest, most recently Virginia's Sean Singletary, who was 12-for-12 in 2006. 
• Redshirt freshman Brandon Costner has scored 62 points in three ACC Tournament games for N.C. State. The individual record for a four-game appearance is 84 points by the Wolfpack's guard C. C. Harrison in 1997. Before even taking the floor today, Costner stands second in the event's four-game scoring ranks, ahead of N.C. State's Danny Strong, who had 51 points in '97. Costner's teammate, Gavin Grant, is also likely to surpass Strong. Grant had 49 points in three games.
• N.C. State's Grant and Costner have each played 113 of a possible 125 minutes in their team's first three games, Ben McCauley 110 minutes, Engin Atsur 105. The record for four games is held by N.C. State's Justin Gainey, who played 160 of a possible 160 minutes in 1997.
• UNC's Roy Williams and N.C. State's Sidney Lowe both attended the schools they are coaching in the ACC Tournament finals, a first for the event. But other ACC alums previously went head-to-head in the championship contest. UNC graduate Horace "Bones" McKinney took Wake Forest to the finals in 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1964 against Vic Bubas, an N.C. State alum who directed Duke. And in 1973 and 1974 N.C. State grad Norman Sloan coached his alma mater to consecutive titles against Maryland's Charles "Lefty" Driesell, a Duke product. 
• No school has won ACC Tournaments in each decade of the league's existence. Of the original members that won multiple titles, only North Carolina has a chance to keep alive a streak of at least one championship in every decade.

WELCOME REPETITION
ACC Tournament Championships By Decade