Elijah Hawkins shows 'championship level' ability in Texas Tech basketball's March Madness win
WICHITA, Kan. — Minutes into the second half of Thursday's first-round NCAA Tournament game inside INTRUST Bank Arena, Elijah Hawkins had a look on his face.
Hawkins wasn't sick, and he wasn't tired. Shortly after the Texas Tech basketball team took the floor, trying to quell a UNC Wilmington run that began late in the first half, Hawkins got hit in the jaw and bit his tongue.
"It's cut up pretty bad," Hawkins said afterward, "but I'll be alright."
The 3-seed Red Raiders couldn't afford to have Hawkins off his game, not with Chance McMillian (upper body) ruled out before the start. With one less body to come off the bench, Hawkins needed to stay on the court as long as he could. He did so by playing all 40 minutes with his cut-up tongue and a blood stain accumulating on the right knee of his leggings.
Texas Tech also needed another scoring option. McMillian's 14 points per game are hard to make up, especially with the Seahawks barreling down on Big 12 player of the year JT Toppin every time he touched the ball.
Rather than force the issue inside, the Red Raiders went to their not-so-secret weapon: Kerwin Walton, also known as one of the best 3-point shooters in the country.
Walton hit a trio of triples in the opening minutes and had five 3s at halftime. He wound up making eight for a game-high 27 points. Those buckets, plus Hawkins' near triple-double of 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds — while never getting a break and hounding UNCW's leading scorer Donovan Newby into a 2-for-10 night from the field — has the Red Raiders into March Madness' second-round for the first time under head coach Grant McCasland.
"I just do whatever my team needs me to do to win," Hawkins said. "I don't really pay attention to everything else, all the stats, who gets credit. I just know I do whatever to help my team win. And today that was doing everything."
Complementary basketball was the only way the Red Raiders (26-8) were able to get the 82-72 win over the upset-minded Seahawks. Texas Tech had 21 assists on 27 made shots, turned it over just seven times, and had four players in double figures.
Hawkins said his assist numbers were boosted by Walton's shooting prowess. Likewise, Walton deferred his 8-of-17 night from 3 to Hawkins' passing ability.
"Most of the credit can go to Elijah Hawkins," Walton said. "He's a pure point guard. He knows where to find me. He knows how quickly my release can be. He makes sure he hits me in the right spots and honestly that's all I can really say. I have great teammates that can help me have a game like this."
McCasland also highlighted Toppin (12 points, 11 rebounds) and his willingness not to force the issue. With the Seahawks digging in on each post touch, Toppin waited for his moments. He had just eight shot attempts but made six of them. Toppin also had two emphatic blocks that helped slow down UNCW's momentum.
"He attracted so much attention today," McCasland said of Toppin. "He was so unselfish. He just kept making the open pass. He never forced it once. ... I just think that's the heart of this group is whatever you've got to do to figure out a way to win, that's what these guys will do."
Durability has been the calling card for Walton and Hawkins. Walton is the only Red Raider to have appeared in all 34 games this season while Hawkins played at least 34 minutes in nine of the past 14 games.
Hawkins' rebounds, McCasland said, were the reason why Texas Tech held a 38-34 advantage, and was one of the few things that proved to be the separation the team needed.
"He was in the middle of traffic grabbing two-handed rebounds all game long," McCasland said. "Got a few offensive rebounds early, which isn't normally what we do, but because of the way the spacing was, he went and got them, but we don't win this game if it isn't for his rebounding.
"People can talk about a lot of different things, but to me that's what makes him elite. He does whatever the team needs to win, and tonight we needed him to rebound."
With his 10 assists on Thursday, Hawkins is now just four assists away from setting the new single-season record for Texas Tech. He'll enter Saturday's second-round game against Drake with 207 assists on the year. His contributions have not gone unnoticed by his teammates.
"I don't think we are the same team without him," Kevin Overton said. "... Just having somebody like that who can create on the fly, it's championship level as far as the way that he does it."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Elijah Hawkins propel Texas Tech basketball to second round of March Madness
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