Texas Tech notebook: Williams provides spark

Williams provides spark

Starting in place of suspended guard Trency Jackson, Jamal Williams shook off the pain of a lingering groin injury to provide the Red Raiders with a spark during a 60-46 loss to Kansas.

Williams recorded 11 points, two assists and two steals, his most significant contributions since scoring 15 points in the season opener against Prairie View A&M.

His three free throws with five seconds left in the first half cut Kansas lead at the break to 27-25.

?I knew once we found out about Trency?s situation I had to step up and show them that I could bring the energy also,? said Williams, who missed games against North Carolina A&T and Florida A&M because of the injury and played only a combined 16 minutes during Tech?s first two Big 12 games against TCU and Baylor.

Jackson was suspended for an undisclosed violation of team rules. Tech coach Chris Walker didn?t elaborate on Jackson?s suspension or indicate when he might return.

?All I will say on the matter is we?re going to play with the guys that are there,? Walker said.

Jackson, who is averaging 6.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, was also suspended from Tech?s season opener because of disciplinary reasons.

If he is to miss further action, Tech could benefit from more big games from Williams.

?It?s just a matter of him getting back into the swing of things,? Walker said.

Young keys Kansas? run

Texas Tech had to pick its poison against a talented Kansas squad on Saturday, and for the most part the Red Raiders succeeded in limiting offense for center Jeff Withey and star guard Ben McLemore.

But in the second half, senior forward Kevin Young took advantage of a Tech defense designed to stop other Jayhawks. He scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the second half, including eight in the first six minutes of the period.

?I think I really needed to do that,? Young said, ?because we were playing frightened in the first half, and it seemed like we were just out there. I decided to make a change.?

Self said he wants to see more consistent performances from Young like the one he put together in the second half.

?Kevin drives me nuts,? Self said. ?He can play so good. At 6-foot-8, he can run and jump and not even contest a shot or layup with a 6-foot guy shooting it with one second on the shot clock, or not even come close to blocking out a guy. When he turns the switch, he does a lot of great things.?

Asked if he helped Young flip that switch with a stern halftime lecture, Kansas coach Bill Self smiled and said, ?Oh, I don?t know. You?d have to ask him.?

Tech strong defensively in loss

The Red Raiders may not have seemed like the mostly likely candidate to limit Kansas to its season-low scoring total heading into Saturday?s game.

Tech entered the game last in the Big 12 in scoring defense (70.4) and was coming off an 82-point yield against Baylor on Tuesday.

But Tech played perhaps as aggressively as it had all season, particularly in the first half, and made life difficult for Kansas on the offensive end.

?Give Tech credit,? Kansas coach Bill Self said. ?I thought they played hard. I like Tech?s personnel. I think they?ve got good players. I think if they play with that type of energy all the time and guard, I think they can be a very good defensive team. I think you should look at us being inept offensively, but in large part because Tech was good defensively.

Kansas made only five field goals in the first half en route to a season-low 27 points, but the Jayhawks found rhythm in the second and shot 61 percent (14 of 23) from the floor, with much of that scoring coming in transition.

?We need everything to go right to beat a team of that magnitude,? Tech coach Chris Walker said, ?but there were signs of growth. There were signs of competition, and I think that going forward we have something to build on.?

Source: http://redraiders.com/filed-online/2013-01-12/texas-tech-notebook-williams-provides-spark

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