The Wooden Legacy didn’t draw as much attention as other early season tournaments like the Maui Invitational or the Battle 4 Atlantis. However, a pair of supernova performances by arguably the two best players in college basketball has suddenly put the tournament on the map. After incredible individual efforts by Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine and Providence’s Kris Dunn, the Friars and Spartans are now set to meet on Sunday in the title game.
Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine face off Sunday after dominating the weekend
The two best players in the country meet on Sunday after dominating performances earlier this weekend.
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
We’ll start with Valentine. He had already put himself on the map by posting a triple-double against No. 4 Kansas on Nov. 17. He opened the Wooden Legacy on Thursday by posting another triple-double, his second in nine days, in a win over Boston College on Thursday. Just a cool 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as Tom Izzo won his 500th game and Draymond Green looked on -- not really a big deal.
Valentine followed up that performance by playing even better on Friday. He hit seven three-pointers to finish with a career-high 32 points, to go along with nine rebounds and six assists. Bask in this shot chart:
Denzel Valentine rode 7-for-12 3-point shooting to a career-high 32 points in Michigan State’s win over Boise State pic.twitter.com/3G4kBPLyBP
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 28, 2015 Then it was Kris Dunn time. After laying waste to Evansville with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists on Thursday, the consensus No. 1 player in college basketball turned his sights to No. 11 Arizona. Dunn battled foul trouble for most of the game that limited him to just 21 minutes on the night, but when he re-entered with about four minutes left and with four fouls, he absolutely took over.
Providence closed on a 10-2 run to win the game, with Dunn scoring all 10 points. That included a beautiful step back jumper on the baseline, a spinning fadeaway for the go-ahead bucket and a run-out for a dunk to ice the victory. There was no question about who the best player on the floor was:
.@Showtime_Dunn was absolutely phenomenal down the stretch tonight. #pcbb pic.twitter.com/Ox7ahFtFWy
— FriarTV (@FriarTV) November 28, 2015 Dunn ended with 19 points and eight assists on 7-of-9 shooting in just 21 minutes.
Now it’s Michigan State vs. Providence on Sunday, Denzel Valentine vs. Kris Dunn, 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2. This one is worth staying up late for.
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