NCAA Basketball: Kentucky is back, LSU is coming, and more weekly takeaways
By Brian Rauf
1) Taking a moment to celebrate R.J. Barrett
Zion Williamson deserves all the publicity and credit he gets nationally. He’s a dominant force like we’ve never seen in college basketball, is the clear frontrunner for National Player of the Year, and will be the No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft.
His play has often overshadowed that of R.J. Barrett lately and, many times, criticism of the Canadian comes when compared to the production of his teammate.
However, Saturday’s game between Duke and Virginia – the game of the week – was a masterpiece by Barrett and should be talked about more than it’s going to be.
Barrett took over point guard duties for the Blue Devils in Tre Jones’ absence and responded by having one of his best games of the year. He kept Duke’s offense humming, only turned the ball over one time and, known for inefficient at times this year, shot nearly 58 percent from the field on his way to a 30-point night.
Barrett made clutch play after clutch play down the stretch, made his free throws, and played well on the defensive end. He didn’t do anything that wowed everyone, rather provided the kind of steady production Duke needed to win the game.
Zion Williamson is the star in the sport and deserves everything that is coming his way. He was great against Virginia, too, but you’re going to hear a lot about him in the coming days and not as much about Barrett. And that doesn’t do Barrett’s performance any kind of justice.