North Carolina center Tyler Zeller, who averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds a game, earned acclaim as Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week, and Duke guard Austin Rivers, whose 29-point performance against the Tar Heels set a Blue Devil record, won Rookie of the Week for the fourth consecutive voting period in awards announced Monday by the conference office.
Zeller, a 7-foot senior center from Washington, Ind., delivered 23 points and 11 rebounds against Duke and immediately followed that performance with 25 points and nine boards in a victory over nationally ranked Virginia on Saturday. He also contributed three assists and three steals.
Zeller has six double-doubles in 10 ACC games and is averaging 19 points and 10.8 rebounds in league play. The award is the first ACC weekly honor for the senior, who earlier this season became the 65th player in UNC history to score 1,000 or more career points. He is the second-leading scorer among active ACC players and a midseason candidate for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, given annually to the nation’s best player by the United States Basketball Writers Association.
This recognition caps off a week where Tyler Zeller was really good save two free throws and a defensive possession against Duke(and I don’t hold the tipped basket against him given he was pushed in the back by Mason Plumlee.) The end of the Duke game earned Zeller a ton of grief and he answered those folks by putting up 25 points and nine rebounds versus Virginia.
As noted by the ACC release, Zeller is averaging 19 ppg and 10.8 rpg in ACC play. Currently Zeller has scored 20 or more points in three straight games which is reminiscent of the work he did during the NCAA tournament last March. For UNC to have a chance to win the regular season, Zeller will need to continue this kind of production with a stiff test at Miami looming in two days.
This article was originally published at http://tarheelblog.com. If you are interested in sharing your website's content with SCACCHoops.com, Contact Us.
Original Story:
