Tough tandem is better together
Last night, West Virginia forwards Devin Williams and Jon Holton proved to be a dominant duo and forceful foe on the glass to slowdown, for Oklahoma State.
During a 70-56 win in Stillwater at Gallagher-Iba Arena, West Virginia managed to outrebound Oklahoma State, 42-25, in large part due to the relentless efforts of Williams and Holton. The twosome combined for 26 rebounds on the night, which means had no other teammate grabbed a single rebound during the game, West Virginia still would have won the battle on the boards, by one.
Williams recorded his 13th double-double of the year registering 13 points and 15 rebounds. Holton had five points and eleven rebounds. Ten of Williams’ 15 rebounds came on the defensive end, while seven of Holton’s eleven rebounds came on the offensive end.
Holton compliments Williams well on the defensive glass and vice versa on the other side.
Offensively Holton helps West Virginia get extra opportunities from snatching rebounds and tipping the ball, often making put backs or allowing Williams to become the beneficiary of easy secondary looks near the rim.
Against Oklahoma State, West Virginia had 19 second-chance points off of 19 offensive rebounds. Earlier in the week, in a win over Iowa State, West Virginia had 22 second-chance points on 18 offensive rebounds.
This season, West Virginia and head coach Bob Huggins are 4-1 when both Williams and Holton have double-digit rebounding performances.
When Holton was serving a four-game suspension earlier this month, West Virginia’s rebounding effort suffered. Without Holton for four games, West Virginia averaged 34.2 rebounds per game while its opponents averaged 32.5 rebounds per game giving West Virginia an average rebounding margin of plus 1.7 rebounds per game.
In the five games since Holton returned, West Virginia has averaged 42.4 rebounds per game while its opponents averaged 31.8 rebounds per game giving West Virginia an average rebounding margin of plus 10.6 rebounds per game.
“I think when you play for two years together, I’m sure it (suspension of Holton) affected Devin (Williams),” Huggins said. “Jon (Holton) keeps balls alive that Devin ends up getting.”
“Our opponents also concentrated more on stopping Devin particularly after that Iowa State game in Ames. They were digging down on him a lot more than they were before.”
With Holton back in action, opponents can’t use multiple post players to box out Williams.
As West Virginia moves forward in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments, its tandem of Williams and Holton together on the glass, will continue to be vital to its success.