ACC Notebook: Hurricanes' Collins to miss game because of leg injury

l Center Dwayne Collins of Miami will not play today against Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

Collins, who had 23 points and 11 rebounds in a regular-season victory over the Deacons, will miss the game because of a stress reaction in a tibia. He also missed Miami's regular-season finale Saturday against Florida State.

"He's out,'' Coach Frank Haith said. "He's been playing with it, but it's to the point where he's having a tough time playing with it any more. It's painful for him, and it's pretty hard for him to play with it.

"I feel bad for him, and obviously I feel bad for our team.''

Collins, a 6-8 senior from Miami, leads the Hurricanes with 12 points and 7.8 rebounds a game. In the second game against Wake Forest, he was held to five points and two rebounds.

Coach Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest said that it remains to be seen how Collins' absence will affect today's game. He made note of a game against Boston College, when leading scorer Joe Trapani sat because of illness and his replacement, Tyler Roche, scored 31 points.

"I'm disappointed for Dwayne Collins,'' Gaudio said. "The young man's a senior, and he didn't get to play on Senior Day and won't be out there (today). But as we saw, the last time we played somebody, Boston College, they didn't have their guy and another guy came off the bench and dropped 31 on us. Sometimes when a young man is out for short term, the other guys pick it up and carry a load a little bit more.''

l Senior L.D. Williams of Wake Forest missed yesterday's practice at Greensboro Coliseum after banging heads with teammate Nikita Mescheriakov during an earlier practice yesterday at Greensboro College.

Williams had a knot over his right eye but said he will definitely play in today's first-round game against Miami. A 6-4 senior, Williams is averaging 9.1 points and 5.5 rebounds.

l Coach Gary Williams of Maryland said that the ACC Tournament won't suffer if the NCAA Tournament expands, as talk of an NCAA field as big as 96 teams heats up.

"I think the ACC has survived expansion in the past ,and it hasn't really hurt the (ACC) tournament," Williams said. "When you ask the players, they really enjoy the competition and getting to play some of those teams again."

Williams said he doesn't know where the number 96 came from, but that might be too many.

"I think expansion is necessary, but I don't think you need that many," Williams said.

Athletics Director Dan Guerrero of UCLA, the chairman of the men's basketball committee, said yesterday that the discussion about expansion is an "evergreen topic" that will have no bearing on his committee's work this week and next.

l North Carolina hasn't had to play on opening day in Coach Roy Williams' seven seasons, but that will change today when the Tar Heels meet Georgia Tech at 7 p.m.

"It's something we are not used to," Williams said. "I'm glad it's an unusual position we are in, so we just have to prepare to play Georgia Tech. And if we play well then I guess we'll be around to get to play the next day."

l Virginia's Tony Bennett will coach in his first ACC Tournament today but knows a little about what to expect. He attended the 1995 ACC Tournament with the pastor of his Charlotte church while he was with the Charlotte Hornets. The pastor, Dave Chadwick, played at UNC under Dean Smith.

Chadwick, who introduced Bennett to the woman who became his wife, and Bennett attended the title game, a Wake Forest victory over UNC.

"It was a heck of a game, but he was grumpy the whole way back," Bennett said. "But I did wind up marrying my fiancee, so it was a good trip for me."

l Deon Thompson has experienced more losses at North Carolina this season (15) than he did in his previous three seasons combined (14). Until this season, the highest loss total during Thompson's career was seven, when he was a freshman.

"There's not really a word I can find to describe the season," he said. "I just think that ‘nightmare' is too much of a strong word.

"But it has been kind of a big disaster, with so many guys getting hurt. It's just been one thing after another."

l Forward Corey Raji will be good to go today when Boston College plays Virginia. He reinjured his left, shooting shoulder Sunday against N.C. State and didn't play in the second half. But he participated in BC's shoot-around late yesterday morning.

"I'm getting treatment and I was able to rest for a couple of days," Raji said. "It's nothing serious. I'll be pretty close to normal. I'd say 85 to 90 percent."

Coach Al Skinner said that Raji's injury adversely affected his team's play at N.C. State.

"He's a warrior," Skinner said. "He's going to come out and give it an effort."

l Virginia is down two players and on a nine-game losing streak, but Will Sherrill looks at today's game against Boston College as an opportunity for someone to shine.

Sylven Landesberg and Calvin Baker did not travel with the team to Greensboro. Landesberg is suspended for academic shortcomings, and Baker is attending to personal matters. Sherrill said that the Cavaliers would like to win at least one game for their absent teammates.

"The only guys we can count on are in this locker room," Sherrill said. "It's an opportunity for the other guys to step up. I think you saw a little of that against Maryland (in the regular-season finale).

"We just have to band together. We have one guaranteed game left in the season. It's all about what we make of it."

l Coach Al Skinner of Boston College thinks that there'll come a day when an ACC team does what hasn't yet been done -- win four games in four days and the ACC Tournament title. He thinks his team has as a good of a chance as any to do it this weekend.

"I think we have the potential to do it, only because we play with a lot of depth and play a lot of people," Skinner said. "It's not like we're relying on one guy to kind of carry us, and he has to get it done every night. I think because of that, it gives us a chance. We're built that way."

l Freshman John Henson knows that the ACC Tournament will determine what comes next for North Carolina.

"It's exciting, and it's a great feeling," he said. "But that's the tournament that's going to decide what we're going to do for the rest of the year, so there's going to be a lot of pressure. It's going to be exciting to play those games, having to win every game.

"I'm just going to play within myself, and play within the team, and hopefully we can get it done."

l Duke has had great success in the Greensboro Coliseum, and Coach Mike Krzyzewski said that the arena is a great place for the tournament.

"I think Greensboro brings everybody together with the fans from all over, and it's a very special place to have it," said Krzyzewski, who has a 46-17 career record in the tournament.

When asked about Duke's winning eight of the past 11 tournaments, he said that the key was having good players.

"A lot of times it's about playing your best basketball at the end of the season and that's what you try to gear toward," Krzyzewski said. "You put a level of importance on the tournament and hope that they use their talents and experience."

l N.C. State will play Clemson in the last first-round game today, but Coach Oliver Purnell of the Tigers doesn't expect much to be different from the last time that the teams played. Clemson won 73-70 at the RBC Center in mid-January.

"They are playing well," Purnell said of State, which has won three of its last four. "They are more efficient offensively and are doing a better job defensively."

l Wake Forest and Miami split in the regular season, with each winning at home, and will meet again today at 2:30.

"I think Ish (Smith) has had an outstanding year and you have to watch Al-Farouq (Aminu) and their two freshmen (Ari Stewart and C.J. Harris) can really shoot the ball very well," said Coach Frank Haith of the Hurricanes, adding that getting back in transition will be a big key. "They are lethal in transition. And we'll have to rebound against them."