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Miami dominates, defeats Wake 83-62
(By Ron Green Jr., rgreenjr@charlotteobserver.com) GREENSBORO - Miami, the 12th seed, dominated from the start as it defeated Wake Forest 83-62 in the first round of the ACC tournament Thursday in the Greensboro Coliseum. The Hurricanes, who had lost seven of nine games, led by 14 at halftime and built on their lead from there, keeping the margin at or above 20 points for most of the second half.

QB Matt Moore will sign tender
(By Charles Chandler, Inside the Panthers) Panthers' restricted free agent quarterback Matt Moore has decided to sign the team's one-year qualifying offer of $3.043 million, according to his representatives.His agents have reviewed the offer and Moore, who has flown to Charlotte from his California home, is expected to sign the offer today or tomorrow.

Virginia wins, faces Duke next
(By Ken Tysiac, ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com) Top-seeded Duke's first opponent in the ACC tournament will be No. 8 seed Virginia, which overcame dire circumstances to defeat ninth-seeded Boston College 68-62 in a first-round game Thursday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum.Sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski scored a season-high 21 points as the Cavaliers overcame a depleted backcourt to oust the Eagles, who had won at least one ACC tournament game for four straight years. Jeff Jones added 14 points for Virginia.

Building a program at USC
(By Seth Emerson, semerson@thestate.com) Three words have been uttered by Darrin Horn over and over this season: "Building a program."South Carolina's men's basketball coach has said it at pregame news conferences, postgame ... anytime. It might seem a curious thing to say about a program that celebrated its 100th anniversary the season before Horn arrived. But his point is clear: In everything he did this season, from off-court discipline to on-court tactics, it was done to lay a foundation.

Nomar retires with the Red Sox
(Associated Press) Nomar Garciaparra rejoined the Red Sox for one day and retired, ending a 14-year career in which he won two batting titles with Boston and was a fan favorite.The infielder signed a one-day contract with his former team Wednesday before announcing he's leaving baseball at 36 to become an ESPN analyst.

E. Carolina falls short in C-USA event
(Associated Press) Aubrey Coleman scored 29 points, three above his nation-leading average, and Houston rolled to a 93-80 victory Wednesday against East Carolina.The seventh-seed Cougars (16-15) will play second-seed Memphis in today's Conference USA quarterfinals.

Any team can get hot and win the SEC tourney
(By Seth Emerson, semerson@thestate.com) In any other conference, it would sound silly: How could a team seeded fifth in its division entertain any thoughts of winning four games in a row, including one against one of the top teams in the country, to capture the league title?But when that league is the SEC, there is precedent. Last season, Mississippi State won the championship as the West's No. 3. The year before it was Georgia, the last-place team in the East.

Tigers hope practice spills over into game
While some teams used Wednesday's open practices for half-speed shooting drills, Clemson worked hard on its full-court pressure defense in preparation for Thursday's ACC tournament game against N.C. State."We just believe in going hard and sharp the day before the game," said Clemson coach Oliver Purnell. "The more you go harder and sharper, you have an opportunity for it to spill over into the game."

Winning 4 games in row is big task
(By J.P. Giglio, jp.giglio@newsobserver.com) It can be done, the eight ACC teams who have to do it this week at the ACC tournament insist, but it never has been.No team has won four games in a single ACC tournament, and only two - N.C. State in 1997 and again in 2007 - have played four in four days. But that doesn't stop coaches from proclaiming it is possible. Since 1992, 58 teams have had to win four games to win the ACC tournament, and every one has failed. It has been done five times in other major conference tournaments - three times by an SEC team in the 2000s. "Anything is possible," Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio.

Wake's 'Mr. Double-Double'
(By Ron Green Jr., rgreenjr@charlotteobserver.com) Practice had ended at Wake Forest's Miller Center when point guard Ish Smith took a seat and looked at teammate Al-Farouq Aminu still shooting jump shots."He's Mr. Double-Double," Smith said, a reference to the fact the sophomore is one of only six players in Division I basketball's so-called power conferences averaging double figures scoring (15.9 points per game) and rebounding (10.8) this season. A second-team All-ACC player, Aminu's multi-dimensional value to the Deacons is as obvious as his healthy numbers.