Monday Motivation: ACC Basketball is Back!

It's that magical time of the year when ACC basketball has returned to our lives, and all seems right in the world again.

Let's waste no time. Straight to the wins!

Rapid Fire

-The Women's Basketball team finished out their non-conference slate 10-4, with back to back wins over Coppin State (75-40) and Richmond (71-51) in the Cavalier Classic Tournament. The ladies also started ACC play, but we'll come back to that later.

Check out the highlights from the Cavalier Classic Tournament:

-Heath Miller scored a touchdown Sunday, making him the fourth player in Steelers' history to catch 45 touchdown passes, joining some impressive company.

Heath Miller is now the 4th player in #Steelers history with 45 touchdown catches, joining Ward (85), Stallworth (63) and Swann (51).

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 3, 2016

-D'Brickashaw Ferguson isn't human.

D'Brickashaw Ferguson just finished his 10th straight season playing every snap. Pretty amazing.

— UVA Football (@HoosFootball) January 3, 2016

-The Virginia Wrestling team placed two wrestlers in the top five of the Southern Scuffle with No.4 George DiCamillo coming in third and No.10 Zach Nye placing fifth. The Hoos return to action against VMI in Richmond on Friday.

-Men's Basketball finished their non-conference schedule as well, taking down pesky Oakland in front of a raucous crowd in Charlottesville. Oakland, who almost got the best of then top-ranked Michigan State in overtime, held a one point lead at the half, but Virginia's usual second half surge put the game away. Mike Tobey came off the bench to lift the Hoos with 16 points and seven rebounds, and Anthony Gill led Virginia with 17 points.

Oakland's superstar Kay Felder scored a ridiculous 30 points, but the defense held the Golden Grizzlies to 30 points under their season average in the 71-58 Wahoo victory.

HOO-mongous Wins

-Oh hey, more Men's Basketball! No.5 Virginia hosted last season's ACC tournament champions, Notre Dame, on Saturday to open their ACC schedule. Unfortunately for Mike Brey, his team failed yet again to best the Wahoos, falling 77-66 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score would indicate. Virginia remains the only ACC team that Brey and the Irish have yet to best since joining the conference (0-7 against the Cavaliers), and we'd like to keep it that way.

Unsurprisingly, Malcolm Brogdon and Gill led the way for the Cavaliers again, and to the delight of Wahoo fans, Mike Tobey kept up his inspired play. Tobey scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds, and went a perfect 7-7 from the line. Brogdon had 24 points, and Gill dropped 20 with six rebounds in the win. Isaiah Wilkins had just two points, but had four assists, no turnovers, and two blocks.

Coach Brey can't wait for Virginia's big men to move on.

"Tobey and Gill, they're just really good, man. They're just men. They're men. When do they graduate?" -Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

Tonight, Virginia takes on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Tip is at 9pm on ESPN2.

-Women's Basketball opened their ACC schedule with a bang, taking down No.22 Miami 76-56 behind 16 point performances from Lauren Moses and Faith Randolph. Virginia shot over 63% in the second quarter, outscoring the Hurricanes 28-9 to give them a big cushion they held on to the rest of the game. The Hoos led by 33 points in the third quarter after once again dominating Miami 23-12 in the stanza.

Virginia shot 66.7% from three point land, and had five players score double digits.

Next up, the Hoos will try and keep the momentum rolling as they host No.3 Notre Dame on Thursday at 7pm.

Go Hoos!