EVANSTON, Ill. — When Kam Williams stepped off the plane in Chicago on Tuesday afternoon, Ohio State’s redshirt sophomore guard had a hunch he was going to make an impact the following night when the Buckeyes visited Northwestern.
It’s fair to say Williams’ feeling was warranted.
Off the bench, the 6-foot-2 sharpshooter poured in a game-high 21 points for Ohio State, and the Buckeyes pulled away late for a 65-56 win over the Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The win was the seventh straight for Ohio State as it improved to 11-5 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten.
“When we came here, I knew I was going to have the hot hand,” Williams said after the game. “The hoop just looked so big out there and I know that’s what I do and I do that every day. I work hard on it every day and I just know that at anytime I could get hot.”
The Buckeyes needed Williams, too. With Keita Bates-Diop in an offensive funk after being saddled with early foul trouble, and the rest of the guys on the team struggling to make an outside shot, it was Williams who rose to the occasion.
The Baltimore, Maryland native made 5-of-9 attempts from behind the 3-point line — the rest of the Buckeyes were 0 for 9 — and went on a personal 8-0 run in the second half. Williams got his 21 points on just 13 field-goal attempts — he was 3 for 4 from inside the arc.
“Man, Kam was on fire,” said sophomore center Trevor Thompson, who chipped in a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. “What he did tonight was — you can’t really describe how important it was. That’s what we know he can do because the last couple weeks in practice he’s just been hot so it’s just carrying over from practice to the game.”
Added Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta: “Kam has been playing really, really well and he’s been practicing at a very high level. I was excited for him because with Keita going down with foul trouble, we did not miss a beat. It was good to see him get going. The kid works so hard, he spends so much time in the gym and that was exciting for us.”
Northwestern spent the majority of Wednesday’s game in a zone, baiting Ohio State’s players to take shots from long range. The strategy would have paid off as the Buckeyes struggled from distance if not for Williams.
“Honestly, I don’t see why when I’m on the court anybody goes zone,” Williams joked afterward. “But hey, it works and people keep doing it.”
This game against Northwestern was just the latest in what’s been an impressive stretch for the Buckeyes’ sixth man. Williams has scored in double figures in three of Ohio State’s last four games. In that stretch, he is averaging 12.5 points per game off the bench and made 10-of-18 attempts from downtown.
“That’s kind of my role on this team, to bring energy off the bench no matter what Coach Matta needs,” Williams said. “Whether it’s scoring, shooting, passing, being a defender, no matter what Coach Matta needs I’m going to try to provide for him no matter what it is.”
This was far from the Buckeyes’ best performance of the year. Ohio State shot just 45 percent from the field, made just 10 of its 22 free-throw attempts, committed 12 turnovers and gave up 17 second-chance points to the Wildcats.
But Williams picked up the rest of the slack, and the Buckeyes stifled a potent Northwestern offense and limited the Wildcats to 31 percent shooting from the floor. Bryant McIntosh and Tre Demps — Northwestern’s top-two leading scorers — were just 8 for 32 from the field.
“I think our defense was as good as it needed to be,” Matta said. “These guys are so scary offensively in terms of their ability to make 3s, but our bigs were probably the key to our defense tonight because they were active, they were big.”
After a 2-4 start, Ohio State has won nine of its last 10 games — and seven in a row — as it prepares for Sunday’s game at Indiana. The Hoosiers have also started Big Ten play 3-0.
Not many people predicted the Buckeyes to turn around their season this quickly. But performances like the one Williams had against Northwestern are partially what make this team somewhat dangerous. On any given night, it seems like a different guy carries the load for Ohio State.
Wednesday night’s performance all started with a feeling.
“We know when our minds are right and when we’re not turning the ball over, we’re one of the best teams in the country,” Williams said. “We know nobody really believes that, but we believe it and that’s all that really matters.”
