Maybe it took a game for some of these guys to get into a groove, but round two of the NCAA tournament produced some far more memorable individual performances than its first-round counterpart.
March Madness 2019: Zion Williamson headlines All-Second-Round Team
A few other familiar names join Williamson as top performers from the NCAA tournament’s second round.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Here are the five players who make our All-Second-Round Team:
Zion Williamson, Duke
Who else? Williamson was sensational on Sunday, leading his team with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists.
With Duke’s season hanging in the balance, Williamson perhaps the most important play of his basketball career to date. His and-1 at the expense of 7’6 UCF center Tacko Fall (who fouled out of the game on the play) brought Duke to within a point of the Knights, and set the stage for R.J. Barret’s eventual game-winner moments later.
Carsen Edwards, Purdue
The headliner from Saturday is a no-brainer. Edwards scored 42 points in Purdue’s 87-61 throttling of Villanova, the most of any player in the tournament so far. His nine three-pointers were also the most of any player inside Hartford’s XL Center, breaking a record previously set by Ray Allen during his time at Connecticut.
Brandon Clarke, Gonzaga
Clarke became just the third player in NCAA tournament history to score at least 35 points and block at least five shots in the same game. He joins a club whose only other members are two guys whose names you don’t have to Google, Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson. Clarke’s 36 points also set a new Gonzaga record for most points in a single NCAA tournament game, breaking a record that had been held by Adam Morrison.
Aubrey Dawkins, Central Florida
It feels wrong to have two players from the same game on a list this small, but it would feel more wrong to have a list like this that didn’t have Dawkins on it. Playing against his father’s school, the coach’s son didn’t appear at all in awe of the Duke mystique. In fact, he looked like the best player on the floor.
Dawkins played all 40 minutes, finished with 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting, and also put up four assists and three steals.
Bryce Brown, Auburn
Auburn’s senior sharpshooter torched Kansas for 25 points on 9-of-13 from the field, including 7-of-11 from beyond the arc. Those seven threes are the most ever by an Auburn player in a single NCAA tournament game.
HONORABLE MENTION:
Grant Williams, Tennessee (19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks)
Ja Morant, Murray State (28 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists)
Luke Maye, North Carolina (20 points, 14 rebounds)
Nassir Little, North Carolina (20 points, 7 rebounds)
Dedric Lawson, Kansas (25 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists)
Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech (16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals)
Payton Pritchard, Oregon (18 points, 7 assists)
Corey Davis Jr., Houston (21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals)
Amir Coffey, Minnesota (27 points, 4 assists)
Jalen Smith, Maryland (15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks)
Mfiondu Kabegnele (22 points, 7 rebounds)
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