Two of the best freshmen in the country had career outings on the same nights. Sadly, both of them fell short of victory. Despite that, both Darius Acuff Jr. and AJ Dybantsa undeniably improved their draft stock, though Dybantsa was in play for the first overall pick already.
Darius Acuff Jr. nearly wills Arkansas to victory
It required double overtime, but Alabama was able to overcome the Darius Acuff Jr. show. He’s one of the best freshmen in the country, and he nearly dragged his team to a stunning, improbable victory with 49 points while playing all 50 minutes.
He did this just days after being in a walking boot. He did this despite four teammates fouling out in overtime. He shot 16 of 27 and made 60% of his three-point attempts after, according to the coach, telling John Calipari he was “nuts” for wondering about his walking boot before the game.
This is the second-most points anyone has scored in college basketball this year. That matters very little to the Arkansas star, who said via ESPN, “We blew leads, but we fought. doesn’t mean anything. We lost. However many I had, we lost. Wish I could take the loss back. It was a good game, man. We had a couple guys go down. No excuses, but proud of the way we fought.”
Acuff Jr. is currently the ninth-ranked NBA prospect for the draft, but with more performances like this, he will undoubtedly move up the big board. Acuff hit the tying shot to send the game into overtime, but he missed the potential tying shot at the end of the second overtime period.
“His body language, his ability to make everyone better, his will to win,” Calipari praised. “I’ve coached some really good guards over the years, and he’s right there with them. He’s unique and special and I would imagine everyone saw it today.”
One of the best freshmen in NCAA also had a great night
AJ Dybantsa doesn’t need much help rising to the top of the big board. He’s currently in that prime tier with Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer, ranked third. There is an outside shot he ends up as the top pick this summer. He just helped make his argument with a 35-point outing in the BYU loss.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said, “I knew it wasn’t going to be aesthetically pleasing every second of the game. But you know, to be able to kind of control the game in that second half — I wish we were able to close it out a little better, but if you watch college basketball, it seems to be a theme. And to withstand a player like AJ, who had 35 points easy, and come out on top was a great effort by our guys.”
This was the sixth contest in which Dybantsa has surpassed 30 points. He did so on 28 shot attempts, but he kept BYU in it despite facing the number four-ranked team. Just last week, they were unbeaten until facing Kansas, so this is arguably the best team in basketball. Dybantsa gave them everything they could handle.
“Gritty win by our guys,” Lloyd said. “We knew it was going to be tough. Obviously, we’re going through injuries right now. It’s just that point of the season where sometimes you hit a little struggle, and if you don’t embrace it, you’re not built for it. So, our guys have done a good job embracing it.”
When it’s all said and done, it would be a shock if both Dybantsa and Acuff, part of a dominant class of freshmen, were picked in the top 10. In fact, it would not be a huge surprise if they ended up in the top five together.
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