Dunk of the year nominee: Donovan Mitchell's put-back slam
Malik Beasley never saw Donovan Mitchell coming.
As the Florida State freshman prepared to gather the rebound of Damion Lee's missed left-wing 3-pointer on Wednesday night, Mitchell crashed hard from the opposite wing. The Louisville guard soared right over the top of Beasley, caught the rebound with two hands and stuffed it with just his right for a put-back dunk that had everyone at the KFC Yum Center buzzing for the rest of the first half.
Louisville play-by-play man Paul Rogers made a sound that can best be described as a combination of bewilderment and amazement. The dunk hit social media within minutes. Long-time Louisville area columnist Eric Crawford of WDRB ranked it the second best Louisville dunk of the Pitino era, behind only Montrezl Harrell's iconic slam during the 2013 national title game.
"That was pretty special," Pitino told Crawford. "All of a sudden, it came out of nowhere. I've seen him do it before. But that was a pretty darn good one. It was explosive. When he jumps off two feet, my God, he can get up."
Mitchell's aerial assault on the rim was the highlight of one of Louisville's best performances of the season. The Cardinals throttled Florida State 83-65, taking full advantage of the fact that the Seminoles were without sophomore Xavier Rathan-Mayes because of what Leonard Hamilton deemed a "coach's decision."
Mitchell had endured three straight quiet games, but the freshman's dunk seemed to help him emerge from that slump. He finished with 13 points in 22 minutes, a great sign for a Louisville team that desperately needs a third scorer to emerge in support of Lee and Trey Lewis.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
