Nassir Little Wins MVP as Team West Wins McDonald's All-American Game 2018

Team West earned a 131-128 win over Team East at the McDonald's All-American Game on Wednesday behind the stellar play of Nassir Little.

The North Carolina commit scored 28 points to take home MVP honors in Wednesday's matchup at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

ESPN Stats & Info noted the company Little put himself in with the effort:

The game featured 24 of the top high school basketball players in the country, each of whom tried to put their individual talents on display. Little stood above the rest in the exhibition, though. 

While the first half featured mostly open running back and forth and seemingly nothing but fast-break dunks, there was more competition down the stretch as the score remained close. After a Cameron Reddish dunk put the West up three, Darius Garland had a chance to tie the game up in the closing seconds, but his shot rimmed out.

The individual performances were what stood out in this one.

R.J. Barrett was the best player on the floor in the first half, scoring 14 points to help lead the East to a 63-54 halftime advantage. He finished with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field.

ESPN provided highlights of him and fellow Duke commit Zion Williamson:

Jason Jordan of USA Today discussed the wing's ability:

The other Duke commits, Tre Jones and Reddish, decided to showcase their passing ability with a combined 17 assists in the win for the West.

While the Blue Devils' recruiting class turned heads in the first half, their future rival Little was the star in the second half. He scored 18 points after intermission, finishing 12-of-17 from the floor to go with five rebounds.

Tyler Dragon of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution summed it up with the two top players going toe-to-toe:

Meanwhile, Williamson was one of the biggest names in the matchup. The highlight-reel machine won the Powerade Jam Fest this week and made some big dunks in this game as well.

Paul Biancardi of ESPN.com discussed the versatility of Williamson's game after Doug Gottlieb of Fox Sports questioned his upside:

Although he came out with a hand injury after 17 minutes and eight points, Williamson still has a lot of potential.

Romeo Langford, one of the top undecided players in the country, also stood out Wednesday. He showed he can get hot in a hurry with 10 points in the first few minutes of the second half, including back-to-back three-pointers. He finished with 19 points, 15 of which came after halftime.

It's difficult to separate yourself on a roster full of all-stars, but these young men were undeniably impressive throughout the showdown.

Everyone on the floor will soon try to follow in the footsteps of impact college freshmen from this past season like Trae Young and Marvin Bagley III.

Note: Statistics courtesy of Andrew Slater of The Athletic.