By R.L. Bynum
There was little reason for hope that Kerwin Walton would have much of a role at Texas Tech through the first six games, but he suddenly has become a key player for the Red Raiders.
It all changed in the 87–58 victory over Omaha on Dec. 6, when Walton scored a career-high 22 points and starter Devan Cambridge suffered a season-ending knee injury.
In his first start of the season Tuesday, taking Cambridge’s spot in the lineup, Walton scored 17 points and four 3-pointers, with four rebounds and three assists, as host Texas Tech (7–2) beat Oral Roberts to extend its program-record win streak in non-conference home games to 27.
Walton has made 11 of 15 3-point attempts in 63 minutes over the last two games after going 3 of 8 over 53 minutes in the six games. He’s already scored more than half the number of points (50) and 3-pointers (14) that he scored all of last season (98 points, 23 3-pointers).
Podcast host RC Maxfield commented on X (formerly known as Twitter) that to call Walton’s play the last two games “a complete 180 from what we saw from him last year at Texas Tech would be a drastic understatement. He’s not just shooting at a high rate; he’s doing a lot more on both ends of the floor.”
One Texas Tech fan tweeted, “We’re entering into the Kerwin Walton era.”
“What I’ll tell you about Kerwin is his size and the way he’s moving really is big,” first-year Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “And what we’ve challenged him on is the defensive intensity and rebounding.”
McCasland praised Walton’s effort in every practice and game.
“That’s why he’s playing so good,” McCasland said. “But the one thing I thought was underrated — he made the right plays. It wasn’t just shooting threes. He was driving in the paint and making simple plays, and making open passes. And, other than that stretch at the very end, I thought our ability to get Kerwin moving — and he was attacking the basket — was a big lift.
He seized his opportunity from the start with a team-leading eight points as Texas Tech took a 38–34 halftime lead. Walton’s third 3-pointer of the game with 7:30 left pushed Texas Tech’s lead to 68–58 and his fourth gave the Red Raiders a 75–64 advantage.
Dontrez Styles scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to lead Georgetown to a 71–54 home victory Tuesday over Coppin State.
Styles was 7 of 16 from the floor, made 3 of 6 3-point attempts, and collected five rebounds, two steals and a team-high four assists.
Styles has scored three 3-pointers four times this season after never hitting more than one in any game during his two seasons at Carolina.
He’s scored in double figures six times after a high of nine points (against Baylor in the 2022 NCAA tournament) as a Tar Heel. He played a UNC-high 25 minutes in that Baylor game, but has played more minutes than that in all but one Georgetown game this season.
His 3-pointer with 6:18 left in the first half expanded Georgetown’s lead to nine, and he had two 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half as the Hoyas opened up a 23-point lead.
Kennedy Todd-Williams, coming off the Ole Miss bench for the second consecutive game, scored in double figures for the first time in eight games with 10 points in the Rebels’ 84–56 home victory Tuesday night over Mississippi Valley State.
Todd-Williams was 4 of 11 from the floor and had four rebounds, two assists and a block for Ole Miss (7–3), which was No. 12 in the preseason AP Top 25 women’s poll but fell out of the poll at the start of December.
Dawson Garcia missed his second consecutive Minnesota game, a 101–65 Tuesday home win over IUPUI, with a left ankle sprain.
Checking in on 11 former Heels
Destiny Adams, Rutgers forward
6–3 | Junior | UNC 2021–23 (2 seasons)
77–69 Wednesday, March 6, loss vs. Minnesota in first round of Big Ten tournament — Started; 38 minutes, 31 points, 12–24 FG, 0–1 3FG, 7–12 FT, career-high 24 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 fouls, 4 turnovers, 1 block, 1 steal, -11, 16.7 game score
Season statistics — 32 games, 32 starts, 15.6 points, 50.1 FG%, 1–8 3FG, 68.3 FT%, 7.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.8 of a block
Record — 8–24; season over
D’Marco Dunn, Penn State guard
6–5, 195 pounds | Junior | UNC 2021–23 (2 seasons)
61–59 Thursday, March 13, loss vs. Indiana in second round of Big Ten tournament — Didn’t start; 25 minutes, 9 points, 2–5 FG, 1–2 3PFG, 2 rebounds, 1 foul, -11, 4.9 game score
Season statistics — 33 games, 12 starts; 6.8 points, 39.5 FG%, 36.6 3P%, 73.8 FT%, 1.8 rebounds, 0.6 of an assist
Record — 16–17; season over
Dawson Garcia, Minnesota forward
6–11, 230 pounds | Junior | UNC 2020–21 (part of 1 season)
73–72 Tuesday win at Butler in the first round of the NIT — Started; 34 minutes, 25 points, 11–19 FG, 1–4 3FG, 2–2 FT, 4 rebounds, 4 fouls, 2 turnovers
76–64 Sunday loss at Indiana State in the second round of the NIT — Started; 28 minutes, 6 points, 2–5 FG, 2–2 FT, 12 rebounds, 4 fouls, 4 turnovers, 2 blocks
Season statistics — 31 games, 31 starts; 17.6 points (led team), 48.6 FG%, 31.9 3P%, 80.2 FT%, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 block
Record — 19–15; season over
Puff Johnson, Penn State wing
6–8, 205 pounds | Senior | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
61–59 Thursday, March 13, loss vs. Indiana in second round of Big Ten tournament — Started; 31 minutes, 16 points, 4–11 FG, 2–6 3PFG, 7–7 FT, 8 rebounds, 4 fouls, 2 steals, -5, 12.1 game score
Season statistics — 29 games, 12 starts; 7.3 points, 42.2 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 78.5 FT%, 3.1 rebounds, 0.7 of a steal
Record — 16–17; season over
Caleb Love, Arizona guard
6–4, 205 pounds | Senior | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
85–65 Thursday win over Long Beach State in the first round of NCAA tournament quarterfinals in Salt Lake City — Started; 34 minutes, 18 points, 6–17 FG, 3–12 3FG, 3–5 FT, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 2 steals, +24, 18.0 game score
78–68 Saturday win vs. Dayton in the second round of NCAA tournament in Salt Lake City — Started; 35 minutes, 19 points, 6–15 FG, 3–8 3FG, 4–6 FT, 3 rebounds, 1 foul, 5 assists, 4 turnovers, 1 block 1 steal, +6, 11.8 game score
Season statistics — 35 games, 35 starts; 18.1 points (leads team), 41.8 FG%, 34.3 3P%, 83.6 FT%, 4.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 steals
Record — 27–8; Rank — No. 6; Next game — 7:09 Thursday vs. Clemson in NCAA Sweet 16 in Los Angeles, CBS
Justin McKoy, Hawaii guard
6–8, 230 pounds | Graduate student | UNC 2021–23 (2 seasons)
68–65 Friday, March 15, loss vs. UC Davis in semifinals of Big West tournament — Started; 33 minutes, 10 points, 3–11 FG, 0–3 3FG, 4–4 FT, 6 rebounds, 1 assists, 3 fouls, -9, 1.6 game score
Season statistics — 34 games, 34 starts, 12.4 points, 47.4 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 87.2 FT%, 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Record — 20–14; season over
Tyler Nickel, Virginia Tech guard
6–7, 225 pounds | Sophomore | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
74–58 Tuesday win vs. Richmond in the first round of NIT — Didn’t start; 17 minutes, 3 points, 1–1 FG, 1–1 FT, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 foul, +2, 3.3 game score
81–73 Saturday loss at Ohio State in the second round of NIT — Didn’t start; 12 minutes, 6 points, 2–7 FG, 2–4 3PFG, 2 fouls, 1 turnover, -9, 0.1 game score
Season statistics — 34 games, 7 starts; 8.8 points, 43.8 FG%, 39.9 3P%, 82.0 FT%, 2.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists
Record — 19–15; season over
Will Shaver, UAB center
6–10, 270 pounds | Redshirt sophomore | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
69–65 Friday loss vs. San Diego State in the first round of NCAA tournament in Spokane, Wash. — 4 minutes, 1 point, 1–2 FT, -4, 0.6 game score
Season statistics — 18 games, 87 minutes, 20 points, 6–17 FG, 0–2 3FG, 8–16 FT, 18 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal
Record — 23–12; season over
Dontrez Styles, Georgetown wing
6–6, 212 pounds | Junior | UNC 2021–23 (2 seasons)
74–56 Wednesday, March 13, loss vs. Providence in first round of Big East tournament — Started; 35 minutes, 7 points, 3–7 FG, 0–3 3FG, 1–5 FT, 9 rebounds, 1 assists, 3 fouls, 2 turnovers
Season statistics — 32 games, 32 starts, 12.8 points, 43.0 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 77.6 FT%, 5.8 rebounds, 0.8 of an assist, 0.6 of a block
Record — 9–23; season over
Kennedy Todd-Williams, Ole Miss guard
6–0 | Senior | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
67–55 Saturday win vs. Marquette in South Bend, Ind., in first round of NCAA tournament — Started; 35 minutes, 15 points, 5–13 FG, 2–4 3FG, 3–6 FT, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 foul, 2 steals, +15, 12.2 game score
71–56 Monday loss at Notre Dame in the second round of NCAA tournament — Started; 33 minutes, 15 points, 5–12 FG, 1–6 3FG, 4–4 FT, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 fouls, 3 steals, -12, 9.4 game score
Season statistics — 33 games, 25 starts; 10.6 points, 38.4 FG%, 26.7 3PFG%, 78.0 FT%, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals
Record — 24–9; season over
Kerwin Walton, Texas Tech guard
6–5, 200 pounds | Senior | UNC 2020–22 (2 seasons)
80–67 Thursday loss to N.C. State in Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA tournament — Started; 20 minutes, 9 points, 3–5 FG, 3–4 3PFG, 5 rebounds, 4 fouls, -2, 8.2 game score
Season statistics — 32 games, 25 starts, 8.4 points, 49.5 FG%, 47.0 3P%, 72.7 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 0.5 of an assist
Record — 23–11; season over
Photo via @TexasTechMBB
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