Texas Tech super senior proved (almost) unstoppable in KU’s double-OT victory Monday
Nine Kansas men’s basketball players logged five or more minutes in KU’s thrilling 94-91 double-overtime victory over Texas Tech on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Six of those Jayhawks — Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, David McCormack, Mitch Lightfoot, Jalen Wilson and finally freshman KJ Adams — at one time or another tried to slow 6-foot-8, 240-pound super senior Bryson Williams, who scored 33 points on 14-of-19 shooting (4 of 4 from three) and grabbed five rebounds in 40 minutes.
“Their kid was as good as Ochai (Agbaji, 37 points, seven rebounds in 46 minutes) for the most part,” KU coach Bill Self said after the Jayhawks (17-2, 6-1) survived the onslaught from Williams, who has had three monster games versus KU in his college career.
On Jan. 8, the Fresno, California native scored 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting and gathered eight rebounds in the Red Raiders’ 75-67 victory over KU in Lubbock, Texas.
And on March 4, 2021, Williams, who played for UTEP, scored 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting with 13 rebounds in KU’s 67-62 win over the Miners at Allen Fieldhouse. KU trailed by 15 points in the second half in that game.
“We couldn’t guard him. KJ was the only one who had a chance to guard him,” Self said referring to the work of 6-7, 225-pound Adams on Monday night.
“We decided to not trap him. We didn’t want to give up threes, tried to get him to be a two-(point) shooter. We didn’t do a good job on him until KJ was in there,” Self added.
On Saturday, Kansas State guard Nijel Pack had a similar game, scoring 35 points in KU’s narrow 78-75 victory over the Wildcats in Manhattan.
“We could have put Marcus on Pack,” Self said jokingly, well aware former KU guard Marcus Garrett has been with the Miami Heat his rookie season in the NBA and unavailable for duty. “We don’t have anybody we can put on (guys with the hot hand). We don’t have anybody who has established themselves as a stopper, something we’ve got to have.”
KU assistant coach Norm Roberts — subbing for Self on Tuesday night on Self’s weekly Hawk Talk radio show — was asked about the play of Williams.
“KJ did a great job. Jalen did a good job on him (and) Christian,” Roberts said. “Sometimes we’d like to have Marcus Garrett back. It shows you how good Marcus was. Think about the times we were struggling to guard big guys.
“... Marcus guarded him (Williams) the last eight minutes of the game against UTEP and he scored one point (two in the last 10 minutes). We can’t bring Marcus back. He’s gone now,” Roberts added.
Roberts was asked by Hawk Talk host Brian Hanni if Austin, Texas native Adams could eventually be a defensive stopper.
“He could. He’d be bigger (than the 6-5 Garrett). He’s so athletic,” Roberts said. “KJ exudes energy. Even when he is running to the scorers table you get energized. Something about him … his energy. He gets rebounds and it’s like it’s the biggest thing ever for him. We need that. He plays to his strengths. He understands what he’s not very good at yet, understands what he’s very good at. Him getting a couple loose balls and keeping rebounds alive were key, key plays Monday. That putback (basket by Adams that tied game at 91) was huge for us.”
Adams said Monday’s game would be a confidence builder for him as the season progresses.
“It makes me want to work harder for the next situation, the next game,” Adams said. “I’m ready to play the next game and just glad we got the win here.”
Meanwhile, regarding Tech’s Williams. ... he’s 0-2 in Allen Fieldhouse against KU with the Jayhawks rallying from the 15-point deficit against his UTEP team and five-point deficit with two minutes left in the first overtime Monday against his Tech team. He is 1-0 over KU in Lubbock. He did not play against the Jayhawks during the first two years of his career at Fresno State.
There’s always the chance he could play against KU again in the postseason. Texas Tech, ranked No. 13 in the country is 15-5 overall and 5-3 in the league.
“If we do, hopefully it’s for a championship in some form or fashion,” Roberts said. “He (Williams) knows how to score the ball. Some shots we gave him. Some shots he made were really tough. That backboard three (second-half three that banked in to give Tech a 91-89 lead with 3:15 left in second OT) had me going nuts on the bench. That should only happen for Ben McLemore, somebody like that,” he joked of the former KU sharpshooter, now in the NBA. “Give him credit. Give their team credit. They played extremely hard and are well coached. Our guys did a huge job of battling.”
Williams, of course, was disappointed with Monday’s result but was pleased with the Red Raiders’ effort.
“We came to fight,” Williams said as quoted on Tech’s athletic department website. “Coming into Phog Allen this is a hard place to play. Playing against a Hall of Fame coach and one of the most talented teams in the country, you have to come and bring it. We did that tonight, but we just fell short. I could just keep saying this over and over again. This team is willing to fight whenever against whoever. All the guys in the locker room, we took a note to know that we came here to fight. Everyone on the coaching staff knew that too. We came out here and did that tonight,” Williams added.
Williams has totaled 1,900 points through 141 career games. He leads the Red Raiders in scoring at 13.7 points per game after the first 30-plus point performance of the season. The 33 points (one off his career high attained at UTEP) are the most by a Texas Tech player since Keenan Evans scored 38 against Texas on January 31, 2018.
“It leaves a pit of fire in our stomach,” Williams said of the game. “We’re just going to carry throughout the whole season.”
No. 5-ranked KU will next meet No. 12 Kentucky at 5 p.m., Saturday, at Allen Fieldhouse.
This story was originally published January 25, 2022 at 8:44 PM with the headline "Texas Tech super senior proved (almost) unstoppable in KU’s double-OT victory Monday."
