HONOLULU — As freshman walk-on guards go, Kody Williams is a little ahead of schedule.
Usually, players who fit that description are found far, far down a college basketball team’s bench, closer to the locker rooms than the scorer’s table.
But due to a combination of persistence and opportunity, Williams proved to be the exception on Thursday night in Hawaii’s 69-62 win over visiting UC San Diego at the Stan Sheriff Center.
He set season highs in nearly every positive statistic, scoring six points with two rebounds, an assist and no turnovers in 14 minutes as a steady hand off the bench — one instrumental in a comeback from 12 points down.
Williams has been thrown spot minutes this season as injuries eroded UH’s backcourt depth, but never to the extent of Thursday. Backup point guard Justus Jackson, who’s been in and out of action with knee issues, missed the game, and usual sixth man Beon Riley was a scratch due to an unspecified lower-body issue.
The 6-foot Minnesota native said his teammates helped mentally ready him to see action Thursday night.
“I’m blessed to be in the position that I am because I’m a walk-on. So, to be even in the game is just special to me,” Williams told the Spectrum Sports Corner Crew afterward.
He and freshman forward Harry Rouhliadeff, who scored eight points with two assists in 20 minutes, helped swing the outcome on a night that the Rainbow Warriors had one of their occasional sluggish first halves. By the end, UH had 14 bench points to UCSD’s zero.
“We needed it,” UH coach Eran Ganot said of Williams. “Von (starting guard McClanahan) was out. We were managing some foul trouble, I thought in that stretch. He brought it.”
Tritons forward Francis Nwaokorie scored 18 points in the first half and hit a 3 to open the second, but was held to four points the rest of the way to finish with 25 on 9-for-13 shooting.
Eventually, the UH starters kicked it up a notch to put the game away. Noel Coleman (14 of 19 points), Samuta Avea (13 of 17) and Bernardo da Silva (eight of eight) did most of their damage in the second half following a six-point halftime deficit.
Williams arrived in relative anonymity late in the offseason. A former standout point guard at Wayzata High in Plymouth, Minn., Williams went on to a prep school in Connecticut, South Kent, and decided to recruit himself somewhere that sounded appealing.
“It was completely random. … I looked at my coach and said, ‘Hawaii would be pretty cool,’” Williams said. “Just because it’s Hawaii. So, I applied and got in, and he made the call to B-Diddy (assistant coach Brad Davidson) and (associate coach) John Montgomery and those guys made me feel welcome in Hawaii.”
Williams hit his first career 3-pointer in the first half, a big moment for a player who was a reluctant outside shooter in his previous 14 appearances; he was 0-for-3 from outside on the season.
UH’s go-ahead points came on Williams’ three-point play on a swooping layup through contact during a 15-0 run that the Rainbow Warriors used to go from down six to up nine. UCSD, which carved up the UH defense in the first half, went nearly 10 minutes of the second period without scoring.
Rouhliadeff’s points all came from the perimeter. He had a foot on the line on his third would-be 3-pointer of the night.
Coleman said the scout-teamers and fringe rotation players like Williams and Rouhliadeff have pushed the starters often in practice. Williams, he said, has that kind of athletic finishing ability.
“We see those guys play in practice all the time. It’s expected for us, but it’s good to see them finally get comfortable on the floor. And I think they’ll be a big help for us.”
Ganot glowed about Williams’ hard work in the postgame.
“He’s going against a veteran backcourt every day. He’s fearless, he’s tough. He can rebound his position, he gets on loose balls and he’s worked on his offensive rhythm with the shooting,” Ganot said. “So happy for him because he’s such a good worker. He’s one of those guys who’s going to keep getting better. But it started because he’s earned it with his grit and toughness and effort.”
He finished the night 2-for-2.
UH (18-7, 9-4 Big West) surpassed its overall win total of the slightly COVID-diminished 2021-22 season and remained in a tie for third entering Saturday’s game against defending BWC tournament champion Cal State Fullerton (13-12, 7-6). Dedrique Taylor’s Titans beat UH 79-72 in overtime at Titan Gym on Jan. 7.
There was a pregame tribute Thursday to the late, legendary broadcaster Jim Leahey on the Sheriff big screen. Leahey, the TV voice of UH sports for decades, died Jan. 30 at age 80. But afterward, there was an even more heartfelt moment when the entire UH team went over to express condolences to Spectrum Sports play-by-play man Kanoa Leahey, the son of Jim.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.