This article cannot begin with anything other than discussing how amazing THE game was. The best game of this year's college basketball season, you have to give props to Austin Rivers and the determination of a Duke team that never gave up. The other two games, in case you were too tuned in to Carolina-Duke, were a surprising loss by a hot Florida State team to bottom-dweller Boston College, and Virginia putting their stingy defense to work one more time to dominate Wake Forest.
Winners:
Austin Rivers: The star that Duke fans have seen glimpses of has finally fully arrived. The freshman, who came in as the number one recruit a year ago, poured in 29 points while etching his name into Duke-UNC lore with a shot for the ages. Not only do we know that Rivers can drive but on a court that featured the like of Seth Curry, Andre Dawkins, Reggie Bullock, and Harrison Barnes, Rivers was the best shooter. It will be fun to see how teams try to defend the dual threat, especially knowing that he has become Duke's top weapon.
Tyler Zeller: In a losing effort, Zeller continued to put up numbers that put him in the talks for conference player of the year. Zeller scored 19 of his 23 and secured 8 of his 11 boards in the first half, becoming the sole reason Carolina was able to stay in the game and take a three point lead into the half. Look for Zeller and Virginia's Mike Scott to battle it out for POY the rest of the season.
Jordan Daniels: The Boston College freshman made sure that his team could finish the year with at least one big time win under their belt. The guard scored a career high 19 points, including four threes, that helped push the Eagles past soaring Florida State. Daniels' first three was the beginning of a 23-3 run by the Eagles that put the game out of reach of a comeback.
Mike Scott: No surprise to see the Virginia redshirt senior here, as he has been all year. Not only did Scott put up his average 19 points but he set a school record by going 9-9 from the field. On a night when Zeller led his team for one half in a losing effort, Scott led his team to a blowout win. More good news for him? He got help, four other Cavaliers scored in double figures.
Losers:
Reggie Bullock: Bullock was in the middle of controversy during a chippy end to the first half. The sophomore was trying to keep Rivers from getting the ball with under a minute to go. The matchup got physical and Rivers ended up on the grounded. Bullock "stumbled" over Rivers and the refs had to interfere after UNC's John Henson and Duke's Tyler Thornton started talking too. What's worse? Bullock scored only four points to Rivers' 29. Carolina missing Dexter Strickland?
Wake Forest Offense: The Deacons managed just 44 points on 34% shooting against a defense that is used to seeing those kind of numbers from their opponents. Travis McKie was matched up with Scott all night and managed a rough 14 points. CJ Harris, the leading scorer for the Deacons, was held to ten. These two got no help, as the rest of the team managed a mere 20 points.
Luke Loucks, Florida State Offense: The Seminoles point guard has been on a quiet tear lately but came out flat against a determined Boston College defense. Loucks ended with just two points on 1-8 shooting, a representation of Florida State's offense as a whole, which shot below 40% and turned the ball over 14 times to just 8 assists.
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