Top 40 Players of the ACC: No. 35-31

35. Mfon Udofia, Georgia Tech- From his sophomore to junior year, the Yellow Jacket guard has seen his points (10.0 from 6.7), rebounds (3.6 from 2.1) and assists (2.5 from 1.2) improve drastically this year. Udofia has taken on more of a leadership roll this year and continues to adjust to life as a point guard. More naturally a scorer, Udofia is working on the transformation.

34. Jontel Evans, Virginia- The pesty point guard has been taking over games for Virginia whenever Mike Scott takes a rest or gets in foul trouble. The 5-11 junior looks small on the court but his defense (1.7 spg) and leadership on the court go a long way.

33. Milton Jennings, Clemson- One of the most talented players in the conference, coach Brad Brownell has continued to say Jennings just needs to work on his mental game. The junior has improved his points (9.5) and rebounds (5.4) just slightly this year, but has also made his presence felt on the defensive end (1.0 bpg). If the lanky forward can keep his off-court problems away from the team he could put himself on an all-conference team next year.

32. Malcolm Grant, Miami- Grant and fellow guard Durand Scott have put themselves out there as the mental leaders for the Hurricanes. Grant has played steadily over his three years since transferring from Villanova, averaging 12 point, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds during his Hurrican career. A trip to the NCAAs would be the icing on the cake.

31. Matt Humphrey, Boston College- The transfer from Oregon is arguably the most important transfer in the ACC this year. The junior guard likes to jack up the three (5.6 3PA/g) but also leads the Eagles in scoring (10.4 ppg). Humphrey will continue to be a key piece for Boston College, especially on the offensive side, next year.

Rapid Reaction: Clemson-Maryland

Wow, another amazing comeback for a Clemson team that has now lost by 7 points or less in six ACC games. Maryland's Terrell Stoglin and Clemson's Andre Young looked opposite of what they actually are at the end, however. Stoglin, a sophomore on the road, hit two clutch free throws with under ten seconds left after Young, a senior, only hit one of three just three only one second earlier. Milton Jennings, who had a terrific game coming back from a two-game ban for academic reasons, made it interesting for a second with a big three at the buzzer. And then one of the truly weird plays in college basketball happened. The Terps' senior defensive leader Shane Mosley, who had made one of two free throws following Jennings' three, caught a full court Clemson pass as it was going out of bounds. The rules, however, state the ball never went out of bounds and the Tigers got it back under their basket. This only resulted in a missed heave by Young at the buzzer.

What it means for...
Clemson- You're that close...to being in the middle tier of the ACC. The Tigers have now barely lost to six ACC teams, including Duke and Virginia, but are without a significant victory (besides middle tier NC State) and cannot beat a young Maryland team on their own floor.

Andre Young- It's time to step up. Senior leaders have no excuse when missing free throws with the game on the line. Especially after a big time decision to pump fake and draw the foul on the three point shot.

Milton Jennings- Let's see the consistency. The long junior has shown his inside-outside game, now let's see you assert yourself as one of the top players on this mediocre team.

Terrell Stoglin- Put your name down for first team all-conference. A 27 point, 4 rebound, 4 steal game including clutch free throws at the end mean a lot coming from a growing-every-game sophomore.

Maryland- Put it all together. You see Maryland lose a lot of their cool in the second half for the second straight game. They blew the lead against North Carolina on Saturday and were lucky that Clemson does not possess quite that kind of skill or they would be 0-2 in their last two games right now.