Sophomore’s play around the rim a bright spot for TCU men

Kenrich Williams has been a bright spot in a lot of games for TCU this year, and last week against Oklahoma qualified.

The sophomore forward from Waco had nine rebounds, which is a good number. But more impressively, eight were offensive rebounds. Those are tougher to get because the defense usually has the advantage of being closer to the basket.

But for Williams, the put-backs and second-chance shots are becoming a necessary part of his game.

“Just anything around the rim, I try to get,” he said. “Because I know I’m not a great scorer. But I know I can get rebounds and put them back and play defense.”

Williams’ rebounding skills, and those of everyone else, will be valuable for the Horned Frogs (14-9, 1-9) on Wednesday when they visit Texas (15-8, 4-6) , No. 1 in the league in rebounding.

In the first meeting against Texas, the Horned Frogs were outrebounded by 11, a season high at that time. Since then, the Horned Frogs have been outrebounded by 14 twice, against Iowa State and Baylor.

Williams leads the team in offensive rebounds with 72 (3.1 per game) and is second in the Big 12 only to Baylor’s Rico Gathers, who has 132 (5.5 per game).

“I just try to play hard every time, go after every loose ball,” he said.

The effort is earning Williams credit with coach Trent Johnson, who can live with mistakes if they are accompanied by the energy Williams is showing. It’s one reason Williams, averaging 8.7 points and 6.8 rebounds, was elevated to the starting lineup seven games ago against Texas Tech.

“Well, he’s a good player, and regardless of what the score is, it’s not going to dictate his effort,” Johnson said after the Oklahoma game. “He had five turnovers, but a lot of them had to do with him being around the rim, rebounding the ball, trying to get back on the rim.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2015 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Sophomore’s play around the rim a bright spot for TCU men."