Dunk of the Year nominee: Louisville guard Kyle Kuric
Kyle Kuric is known as one of Louisville's quietest players, so he had to do something pretty special to get hit with a technical for taunting.
In the final seconds of the first half of Wednesday's overtime loss to Notre Dame, Kuric elevated in transition, flattened late-arriving big man Scott Martin and threw down a powerful one-handed tomahawk jam. Referees assessed the technical on Kuric because he appeared to stare down Martin after the play.
Louisville would probably tolerate more technicals from Kuric if it meant that he would aggressively take the ball to the rim the rest of the season. The sophomore guard has earned a reputation as an all-or-nothing scorer because he sometimes disappears in important games, scoring five or less points nine times this season and erupting for 19 or more in four other games.
Kuric's career high 28 points weren't enough to deliver a marquee road win for Louisville. The Cardinals squandered two chances to win the game in the final minute of regulation and then gave up the first 10 points in overtime, falling 89-79 to the Fighting Irish.
Previous Dunk of the Year nominees:
Central Florida guard Marcus Jordan
Old Dominion guard Kent Bazemore
Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham
