LAS VEGAS — Sure it was hyperbole when guard Kendall Williams said he couldn’t understate the importance of Thursday’s first-round tournament game against fourth-seeded Colorado State.
A bit of an overstatement, the freshman guard compared the Mountain West Conference tournament game to “war.”
What couldn’t be embellished, though, was his importance to the UNM men’s basketball team in its 67-61 win over the Rams at the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday. He was nearly perfect from everywhere on the court — 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the 3-point line. He converted all his free throws, finishing with a team-high 16 points.
Head coach Steve Alford said that watching Williams on the court is a spectacle.
“You’re looking at somebody that I think is going to be a very special player in this league,” he said.
So special, that guard Dairese Gary almost expects double-digit performances out of Williams.
“Kendall was just being Kendall tonight,” he said.
Thanks to Williams and forward Cameron Bairstow, the Lobos’ future is playing big-time basketball in the present — as in against top-seeded BYU at 7 p.m. tonight. The two freshmen, a dual threat to be reckoned, were pivotal in their first MWC tournament appearance.
Bairstow sunk an insurance shot with 57 seconds left in the game that put UNM up 63-59 over the Rams. Bairstow saw limited action (12 minutes) against CSU, and his late-game bucket was only his third shot attempt.
UNM center Drew Gordon got the ball to Bairstow, and Gordon said Bairstow’s shot was just like every other one that he has hit in Lobo practices.
“I really didn’t have any options except for Cam,” he said. “He’s in the gym every day putting up the jumper, and I had full faith that he was going to make the shot.”
Before Bairstow’s backbreaker, it was Williams’ show, and he was superb in the first half.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Alford said Williams’ performance is why he was the MWC Freshman of the Year. And his dependable play is why he has been in the Lobos’
starting lineup.
“If there was unanimous choice other than Player of the Year in this league, it would have to be Freshman of the Year,” Alford said. “He’s been tremendous — incredibly consistent — which is odd. You don’t see freshmen play with the consistency. You don’t see many freshmen play with the consistency that Kendall has. In 32 games, he’s had maybe two, three that have been considered poor performances.”
After Rams’ Dorian Green hit a first-half 3-pointer to cut the Lobos lead to 11-10, Williams responded with a 3-pointer of his own and kept the momentum on UNM’s side.
He did the same in the second half.
CSU’s Andy Ogide cut the Lobo lead down to five, but Williams scored five straight points for the Lobos that put them up 44-36.
CSU’s head coach Tim Miles said Williams has a bright future.
“I think he’s going to be a really good player in our league for a long time,” Miles said. “He’s a future all-conference player. He can score, make 3s and drive it. He’s a great athlete, and he’s going to be really good. He’s already really good.”
All bets are, that’s not hyperbole.
