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Duke Basketball: R.J. Barrett wins ACC Freshman of the Week Award

By Kevin Connelly

SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 23: RJ Barrett #5 of the Duke Blue Devils looks to pass the ball around Marek Dolezaj #21 of the Syracuse Orange during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 23, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 23: RJ Barrett #5 of the Duke Blue Devils looks to pass the ball around Marek Dolezaj #21 of the Syracuse Orange during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 23, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images) /
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Another Duke Basketball star freshman won a weekly ACC honor and it’s R.J. Barrett winning the Freshman of the Week Award.

R.J. Barrett‘s greatness was on display this past week and he has been recognized as the ACC’s Freshman of the Week.

Starting on Wednesday night when Zion Williamson went down against North Carolina, Barrett looked like the only Duke player ready to step up and try and lead the Blue Devils to victory.

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Against the Tar Heels, scored 33 points and got 13 rebounds to go along with four assists. on 11-of-22 shooting, despite the Blue Devils loss.

The 33 points on Wednesday from R.J. Barrett were the most points by any Duke freshman in his first game against North Carolina as well as his sixth double-double on the season.

Barrett kicked it into another gear on Saturday against Syracuse, leading the Blue Devils with 30 points, five rebounds, and seven assists on a career high 14-of-20 shooting from the field and two-of-five from 3-point range.

The back to back 30-point games are coming off of Barrett’s first career triple-double and the first triple-double in Duke history since 2006 on Saturday, February 16 against North Carolina State.

R.J. Barrett leads the ACC with six 30-point games and is one game away of tying former Blue Devil Marvin Bagley III’s ACC freshman record from last year.

Barrett also notched his 20th, 20-point games, which is a new ACC freshman record. The mark put the Canadian native past Georgia Tech’s Kenny Anderson from the 1989-90 season.

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On the season, R.J. Barrett leads the ACC in scoring at 23.3 points per game, but also averages 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, while shooting 46.0% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range.

R.J. Barrett and the rest of the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils will be back on the road Tuesday night, facing the No. 20 Virginia Tech Hokies at 7:00pm ET on ESPN.

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