LUBBOCK – Texas Tech junior Darrion Williams has been named the Big 12 Player of the Week for the second time in his career after scoring a season-high 23 points in the win over Lamar and providing nine assists against Oral Roberts to highlight his performances in a pair of wins last week.
A junior from Sacramento, California, Williams scored 20-plus points for the fourth time this season after matching a career-best with four 3-pointers against Lamar where he also had seven rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and was 5-of-6 at the free-throw line in the 101-57 on Saturday to complete non-conference play. He started the week by producing nine assists, 10 points, four rebounds and two steals in the win over Oral Roberts on Monday night. He averaged 16.5 points, 7.0 assists and 5.5 rebounds during the two-game week to secure his first conference award of the season.
Williams goes into Big 12 play averaging 16.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game this season. One of the most versatile players in the Big 12 and nation, he is currently second in the Big 12 by shooting 88.4 percent at the free-throw line and with 57 total assists, is fourth in the conference in scoring average and ranks eighth with a 2.59 assist-to-turnover ratio. He has scored in double figures in 10 of 11 games this season with seven straight after his 23 points against ORU. He was 4-for-6 from 3-point range in the game – matching a career-high which he has now reached three times in his career. His 23 points surpassed his previous season-high of 21 points against Northern Colorado and is only exceeded by his historic 30-point game against Kansas last season where he went 12-for-12 from the field and was 4-of-4 on 3-pointers.
Now in his second season at Texas Tech, Williams has 809 points, 551 rebounds, 229 assists and 98 steals through 77 games in his career. His 23 points against Lamar was the fifth time in his career with 20-plus points and was the 40th double-figure scoring performance in his career.
Williams earned his first Big 12 Player of the Week honor last year after recording the ninth double-double of his sophomore season with 16 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Baylor in the regular-season finale. JT Toppinwas named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on November 25 for the only other Texas Tech weekly award from the conference this season. With a limited schedule of games prior to December 30, the next set of Big 12 weekly honors will be announced on January 6.
The Red Raiders (9-2) open Big 12 play by hosting UCF (9-2) at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31 at United Supermarkets Arena. Tech is currently 8-0 at home and extended a 38-game non-conference home winning streak with the win over Lamar.
