Oklahoma State basketball's Quion Williams fills big role replacing Bryce Thompson
STILLWATER — In the aftermath of Bryce Thompson’s shoulder injury, Oklahoma State men’s basketball coach Mike Boynton focused in on a few key players to help fill the void.
The most important of those was Quion Williams.
Boynton challenged the sophomore guard in the middle of last week after learning that Thompson would miss significant time.
Boynton already had decided Williams would start last Saturday’s game. But Williams didn’t initially respond well to Boynton’s challenge.
“Q didn’t have a great practice (Friday),” Boynton said. “Not in terms of he missed shots or whatever. But we challenged him to step up and be more reliable. And it’s not that he fought it, but it was more like he feels like he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. And he is.
“You’re gonna be out there, man, so you gotta give us more. So I challenged him, probably more than I have so far in his career.”
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Despite the rough Friday practice, Williams came through with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Cowboys’ Saturday victory over Kansas State, which might make Boynton’s next starting lineup decision a little easier.
The Cowboys (10-12, 2-7 Big 12) hit the road for a tough test at fifth-ranked Houston (19-3, 6-3), set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, and with the defensive presence Williams offers, he’s the most likely choice for a regular starting assignment. His offensive explosion in Saturday’s win over Kansas State certainly helps his case.
“He responded,” Boynton said. “It’s always good when it works out that way. It doesn’t always work out that way, though.
“When you lose a four-year guy who’s been through the league more than anybody else, you gotta rely on the next guys that have been there.”
Williams downplayed the added pressure of filling Thompson’s role, and Thompson encouraged the sophomore to focus on what he did best — defense and rebounding.
“It ain’t no different than any other game,” Williams said. “Just do the things that the team needs and it’s gonna come. So I just rebounded, and I ended up having 17 points.”
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It was a strong sign for Williams, who had been through a couple of tough weeks.
A regular starter through the first 2 ½ months of the season, he was relegated to the bench in mid-January. He had been averaging nearly 30 minutes per game as a starter, but played just three minutes against TCU two weeks ago and 10 minutes against West Virginia the next game.
“He’s kind of taken a little bit of a step back in terms of his role the last couple weeks,” Boynton said. “He got the chance and he responded, and obviously, set a pretty good tone for us in terms of getting to the glass. And his cutting and layup-making was elite for us.”
Williams’ performance brought an energy boost, too. He had a couple of big dunks in the second half against Kansas State that his teammates seemed to feed off of. The next step is continuing all the things that went well on Saturday against a challenging upcoming schedule with multiple ranked opponents in the near future.
“I feel like we always have energy, but we just gotta sustain it,” Williams said. “We finally sustained it (against Kansas State) and it led us to a good outcome.”
More: Oklahoma State basketball live score updates vs Houston in Big 12 game
Oklahoma State at No. 5 Houston
TIPOFF: 6 p.m. Tuesday at Fertitta Center in Houston (ESPN2)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU basketball's Quion Williams in big role replacing Bryce Thompson
