North Carolina junior guard Joel Berry II has been selected as the ACC Basketball Player of the Week, while NC State guard Dennis Smith Jr. earned Freshman of the Week honors.
The ACC weekly honor is the third of the season for Berry (also November 14 and November 28), while Smith was recognized for the second time this year (also December 19).
Berry averaged 25 points and four assists in UNC wins at Clemson (overtime) and against NC State. He scored a career-high 31 points (23 in the second half and overtime) in the win at Clemson while connecting on a career-best seven 3-pointers in 10 attempts. Berry scored 19 of UNC’s 23 points in a seven-and-a half minute stretch in the second half, during which the Tar Heels built a six-point lead. His 12 field goals against the Tigers were another career high.
Berry had 19 points and a game-high tying five assists in just 23 minutes on Sunday as he led the Tar Heels’ 51-point win over the Wolfpack, UNC’s largest ever in an ACC game. Berry scored 12 points in the first half as UNC built a 33-point lead. He was 6-for-10 from the floor, 3-for-7 on threes and 4-for-4 from the line. He added five rebounds and two steals.
Smith recorded the second triple-double in NC State history and the first in ACC history by a freshman against an ACC opponent with 27 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in the Wolfpack’s 104-78 win over Virginia Tech on Wednesday. Smith, was 9-for-16 from the field in the win. Smith’s 11 rebounds were a career high, and he also had a career-high with five steals in the win. The triple-double was only the 29th by ACC player in the 64-year history of the league.
Smith closed the week with 11 points and team-highs in assists (five) and steals (three) in the Wolfpack’s loss at North Carolina. For the week, he averaged 19 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and four steals in two games.
ACC basketball weekly honors are determined by a vote of a 15-member media panel.
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