Wake Forest sophomore John Collins named ACC basketball player of the week

Wake Forest sophomore John Collins has been named the ACC Basketball Player of the Week, while Duke’s Jayson Tatum claimed Freshman of the Week honors.

The weekly honor is the second of the season for Collins, while Tatum was recognized as the league’s freshman honoree for second week in a row and the third time this season.

Collins had two career games for the Demon Deacons last week. He averaged 30.0 points and 12.5 rebounds and shot .781 from the floor and .909 from the line in road games at Clemson and No. 12 Duke.

On Tuesday at Clemson, Collins set a new career high with 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the floor and 5-of-5 from the line. The West Palm Beach, Florida, native also grabbed 10 rebounds to record his 12th double-double of the season.

He followed with a career-high 31 points and 15 rebounds Saturday at No. 12 Duke. It was the first 30-and-15 game by an opponent at Cameron Indoor Stadium since Al Thornton of Florida State had 37 and 15 in 2006. It was the first 30-and-15 game by a Demon Deacon since Rodney Rogers in 1993 (31 and 15 at Florida State). Collins’ 31 points came on 13-of-18 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the line. His 15 rebounds were one shy of a career high.

Collins has 10 consecutive 20-point games, the longest streak in the ACC this season and the longest by a Deacon in ACC play since Skip Brown had a 10-game streak in 1974-75. He leads the league with eight 20-and-10 games this season.

Tatum was the catalyst for Duke wins at No. 14 Virginia and at home over Wake Forest, averaging 23.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 35.5 minutes per contest. He was lights-out as a shooter in both games, shooting .609 (14-of-23) from the floor, .750 (9-of-12) from 3-point range and 1.000 (10-of-10) from the line.

The St. Louis native put Duke on his back last Wednesday night with a career-high 28 points and a team-high eight rebounds as the Blue Devils handed Virginia just its third home ACC loss in the last three seasons. He was 6-of-7 (.857) from outside the arc against UVA, tying the Duke single-game freshman records for three-pointers made and three-point percentage. Twenty-one of Tatum’s game-high 28 came in the second half as Duke erased a four-point halftime deficit to win by 10.

Tatum put together a 19-point afternoon against Wake Forest on Saturday, knocking down 3-of-5 from long distance. He shared the team high with seven rebounds and added two assists against the Demon Deacons. With Wake making a push late in the game, Tatum came up with two huge free throws in a one-and-one situation to help Duke seal the victory.

For the year, Tatum is averaging 16.4 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting .453 from the floor, .389 from three-point range and a team-high .870 from the line. He is a finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.

ACC basketball weekly honors are determined by a vote of a 15-member media panel.