Kerwin Walton established career bests of 27 points and eight 3-pointers to lead third-seeded Texas Tech to an 82-72 victory over No. 14 seed UNC Wilmington on Thursday night in West Region first-round play in Denver.
Elijah Hawkins added 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Red Raiders (26-8), who will face No. 11 Drake in Saturday’s second round. Darrion Williams had 13 points and nine boards, and JT Toppin added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Walton fell one trey short of the school record held by Alan Voskuil, who had nine against Kansas on March 4, 2009.
“Most of the credit can go to Elijah Hawkins,” Walton said. “He’s a pure point guard. He knows exactly where to find me, and he knows exactly how quick my release can be. So he always hits me in the right spots. That’s all I can say: I have great teammates who can help me have a game like this.”
Nolan Hodge has 18 points and seven rebounds for UNC Wilmington (27-8), which is 1-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament play. Bo Montgomery added 10 points for the Seahawks.
“I thought our guys fought. I’m so proud of every last one of them,” UNC Wilmington coach Takayo Siddle said. “We didn’t come here to get a moral victory. We came here to win. We fell short, but Texas Tech had a lot to do with it. I’m not going to hang my head.”
The Red Raiders shot 39.1. percent from the field and hoisted up 46 3-point shots, making 13 for a 28.3 percent accuracy rate.
“We shot a million threes” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “We didn’t make all of them, but I thought we got great looks. If that is what teams are going to give us, then we’re going to take those.”
UNC Wilmington made 41.3 percent of its shots and hit 7 of 26 (26.9 percent) from behind the arc.
UNC Wilmington trailed by 16 before dominating the rest of the first half. The Seahawks rattled off 12 straight, ending with Hodge’s basket with 1:34 left.
The momentum carried over to the second half and Wilmington knotted the score at 41 on two free throws by Greedy Williams with 17:38 left.
Less than three minutes later, Hodge drilled a 3-pointer to give the Seahawks a 46-45 advantage, their first lead since 3-2.
Walton hit three treys in the first seven-plus minutes of the half. His eighth of the game gave Texas Tech a 53-50 edge with 12:42 remaining. Toppin added a putback to make it a five-point lead 38 seconds later.
The Red Raiders ran off six straight points a short time later. Toppin capped it with a layup for a 68-59 advantage with 5:31 left.
Christian Anderson drilled a 3-pointer with 2:57 left as Texas Tech’s lead reached 76-64 en route to closing out the Seahawks.
Walton scored 15 points on five 3-pointers to help the Red Raiders lead 38-34 at the break.
Walton buried three treys in the first two minutes as Texas Tech ran out to a 11-3 lead. Walton also made a trey during a 12-0 surge that saw the Red Raiders take a 35-19 advantage with 6:11 left in the half.
Texas Tech’s Chance McMillian sat out with an upper-body injury.
–Field Level Media
