New NC State power forward Darrion Williams was a key component of Texas Tech’s success the last two years.
Williams was one of 10 players selected first-team All-Big 12, and he proved be a reliable and versatile power forward at 6-4 1/2 and 236 pounds.
Williams shooting percentages dipped this past season, but he also had much more help than in 2023-24, when NC State ended the Red Raiders’ season.
Williams had 17 games where he shot 40 percent or less from the field, with Northwestern State, at Arizona State and at Cincinnati the three contests where he got held to one basket. Maybe down the road, I’ll circle back to a game where he struggled, like against West Virginia or perhaps Texas A&M.
Instead, I picked not his best game, but one of his better ones against a tall and athletic Arkansas squad in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Texas Tech won 85-83 in overtime and he needed 26 shots (making eight) to score 20 points. He went 2 of 10 on three-pointers and made both free throws. Williams added nine points, three assists, one block, three steals and one turnover in 38 minutes played.
Arkansas featured 6-10, 230-pound power forward Trevon Brazile, who is one of the better athletes among bigs, plus 6-11, 240-pound center Jonas Aidoo. The backup center was sophomore Zvonimir Ivisic, who was a perimeter-oriented 7-2, 245 pounds, and has transferred to Illinois this offseason. Even freshman small forward Karter Knox has good size at 6-6 and 220 pounds.
Key power forward Adou Thiero was injured leading up to the game, and limited to five minutes in the game, but that opened the door for Brazile.
Here are four observations from watching Williams:
1. Emotions had to be high for Williams with a berth to the Elite Eight on the line, and he’s from Sacramento, Calif., and the game was in San Francisco. I’ll lead with the fastball, what Williams did best in this particular game is to create mismatches where he’d get a wing switched on him, and then bully the player to the rim.
Arkansas freshmen Knox and Billy Richmond aren’t “small” small forwards at around 6-6, but they struggled at times keeping Williams in front of him. If he was playing football, he’d project at tight end or defensive with a good anchor and big calves.
In ACC terms, if he had played Duke, he’d try to get a switch against Cooper Flagg, and have either Kon Knueppel or Sion James get on him, and then he’d take them to the rim.
2. It’s documented that Williams shot better from deep his sophomore year than junior year, and that was evident against the Razorbacks, and he went 2 of 10 on three-pointers in the win.
Now, digging deeper on that, he had good looks from three-point land and Arkansas didn’t have a problem just letting him shoot it. He tried five from the right wing, two on the left wing, one apiece in each corner and one at the top of the key.
Williams didn’t have a mid-range game in this one, making one short fade-away jumper. He was trying three-pointers or driving to the rim, which his shot chart showed. Maybe he played for a program that believes the mid-range shot is analytically not shrewd.
Williams started the game with seven straight misses and was 2 of 10 at halftime with a layup and he hit a three-pointer to end the first half. For game, he had his shot blocked four times against a much taller Arkansas squad.
3. Texas Tech was trailing by 13 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the game. Williams got going and drove for two against Richmond, and then got a step on the drive against Brazile. Texas Tech went on a 10-0 run to make it 69-66 with 1:55 left.
The door got opened up with Aidoo missing a front end of a 1-and-1, and that is when Williams came through with a huge 3-pointer to tie the game with 9.7 seconds left, and eventually force overtime. Essentially, Texas Tech did to Arkansas what Florida did to the Red Raiders down the stretch the next game.
Wiliams made two free throws in overtime, and then bullied D.J. Wagner on a drive to tie the game 83-83 with 34.8 seconds left in overtime. He won the game when Knox picked him up on a switch, and then drove him for the game-winner with 7.3 seconds left.
What the game showed is that even when he didn’t have his “A” game, he wasn’t afraid to make the big play at the big moment. He was unflappable in many ways.
4. Wiliams’ emotions didn’t change much during the game, and he goes about his defense on both ends of the court. His approach for the game didn’t change even as the misses piled up, and not every player handles that well. Sometimes how a player plays on offense can affect how they play defense.
Williams defense also was consistent. He showed he was a solid team defender, and was often matched up against Brazile. In the first half, Brazile hit a 3-pointer against him. In the second half, Brazile had a nice baseline drive for a dunk and Williams fouled him. Otherwise, his defense wasn’t overly noticeable, which is a good thing. He got a steal against Richmond.
Williams was one of 10 players selected first-team All-Big 12, and he proved be a reliable and versatile power forward at 6-4 1/2 and 236 pounds.
Williams shooting percentages dipped this past season, but he also had much more help than in 2023-24, when NC State ended the Red Raiders’ season.
Williams had 17 games where he shot 40 percent or less from the field, with Northwestern State, at Arizona State and at Cincinnati the three contests where he got held to one basket. Maybe down the road, I’ll circle back to a game where he struggled, like against West Virginia or perhaps Texas A&M.
Instead, I picked not his best game, but one of his better ones against a tall and athletic Arkansas squad in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Texas Tech won 85-83 in overtime and he needed 26 shots (making eight) to score 20 points. He went 2 of 10 on three-pointers and made both free throws. Williams added nine points, three assists, one block, three steals and one turnover in 38 minutes played.
Arkansas featured 6-10, 230-pound power forward Trevon Brazile, who is one of the better athletes among bigs, plus 6-11, 240-pound center Jonas Aidoo. The backup center was sophomore Zvonimir Ivisic, who was a perimeter-oriented 7-2, 245 pounds, and has transferred to Illinois this offseason. Even freshman small forward Karter Knox has good size at 6-6 and 220 pounds.
Key power forward Adou Thiero was injured leading up to the game, and limited to five minutes in the game, but that opened the door for Brazile.
Here are four observations from watching Williams:
1. Emotions had to be high for Williams with a berth to the Elite Eight on the line, and he’s from Sacramento, Calif., and the game was in San Francisco. I’ll lead with the fastball, what Williams did best in this particular game is to create mismatches where he’d get a wing switched on him, and then bully the player to the rim.
Arkansas freshmen Knox and Billy Richmond aren’t “small” small forwards at around 6-6, but they struggled at times keeping Williams in front of him. If he was playing football, he’d project at tight end or defensive with a good anchor and big calves.
In ACC terms, if he had played Duke, he’d try to get a switch against Cooper Flagg, and have either Kon Knueppel or Sion James get on him, and then he’d take them to the rim.
2. It’s documented that Williams shot better from deep his sophomore year than junior year, and that was evident against the Razorbacks, and he went 2 of 10 on three-pointers in the win.
Now, digging deeper on that, he had good looks from three-point land and Arkansas didn’t have a problem just letting him shoot it. He tried five from the right wing, two on the left wing, one apiece in each corner and one at the top of the key.
Williams didn’t have a mid-range game in this one, making one short fade-away jumper. He was trying three-pointers or driving to the rim, which his shot chart showed. Maybe he played for a program that believes the mid-range shot is analytically not shrewd.
Williams started the game with seven straight misses and was 2 of 10 at halftime with a layup and he hit a three-pointer to end the first half. For game, he had his shot blocked four times against a much taller Arkansas squad.
3. Texas Tech was trailing by 13 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the game. Williams got going and drove for two against Richmond, and then got a step on the drive against Brazile. Texas Tech went on a 10-0 run to make it 69-66 with 1:55 left.
The door got opened up with Aidoo missing a front end of a 1-and-1, and that is when Williams came through with a huge 3-pointer to tie the game with 9.7 seconds left, and eventually force overtime. Essentially, Texas Tech did to Arkansas what Florida did to the Red Raiders down the stretch the next game.
Wiliams made two free throws in overtime, and then bullied D.J. Wagner on a drive to tie the game 83-83 with 34.8 seconds left in overtime. He won the game when Knox picked him up on a switch, and then drove him for the game-winner with 7.3 seconds left.
What the game showed is that even when he didn’t have his “A” game, he wasn’t afraid to make the big play at the big moment. He was unflappable in many ways.
4. Wiliams’ emotions didn’t change much during the game, and he goes about his defense on both ends of the court. His approach for the game didn’t change even as the misses piled up, and not every player handles that well. Sometimes how a player plays on offense can affect how they play defense.
Williams defense also was consistent. He showed he was a solid team defender, and was often matched up against Brazile. In the first half, Brazile hit a 3-pointer against him. In the second half, Brazile had a nice baseline drive for a dunk and Williams fouled him. Otherwise, his defense wasn’t overly noticeable, which is a good thing. He got a steal against Richmond.
