[wideawake]

Cruz broke 30% and went below it, finishing with 28% - so it wasn't "unexpectedly" strong.

He was supposed to win, then he started losing ground to Trump, then Trump foolishly boycotted the debate, and Cruz then locked it in.

[John Valentine]

All the Monday morning quarterbacking notwithstanding, Cruz won.

Trump didn’t.

For that matter, neither did Rubio, Carson, Paul, Bush, Fiorina, Katich, Huckabee, Christie, Santorum, or Gilmore.