Lights Out! Williams has a Big Night against Minnesota

I love this time of year; College Basketball Season is officially underway. I know now that I’m living in Minnesota, the interest in College Basketball is not what it is in my native North Carolina.  

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I guess that’s why I was surprised to have a good friend in North Carolina reach out to me about the Exhibition game that the Minnesota Golden Gophers held last Thursday. 

Minnesota hosted D-3 Macalester College from nearby St. Paul. No, the Gophers didn’t lose the game, even though it was a 9-point lead at halftime. They pulled away with a 52-point performance in the 2nd half and did what most Division 1 teams do when they play a Division 3 opponent; winning 97-73.  

That’s not the story, the story is Macalester’s Caleb Williams.  Williams is a 6’2 Junior from Wild Rose, Wisconsin, and he LIT the Gophers up for 41 points. I didn’t watch the game as I alluded to before, but in the video recap of the game, it looked as if Williams had a jolly good time on the floor. 

Williams went 14-31 from the floor, even as challenged at math as I am I can tell that’s a good clip. The calculator tells me that the total comes to 45%. He also went 5-12 (41%) from the 3-point line and 8 of 10 from the free throw line. When you add in Williams’ 5 rebounds and 2 assists to only 1 turnover in 36 minutes of action, that’s a heck of a night against a team who probably gave him little to no attention in the recruiting process. And he wasn’t the only player in double figures for “The Scots”, Coby Gold added 14 and Kaden Holdbrook put in 11.  

“The Scots” opened their official season Wednesday night at home against Wisconsin Superior losing 88-73. Williams had another solid night with 22 points while Kaden Holdbrook led the way with 23.   

Caleb Williams averaged 21.5 points per game last season that earned him all conference and all region accolades, so scoring at a high clip isn’t anything new for him. I just thought his performance in a game that technically didn’t count toward “wins and losses” should be highlighted.  

And if basketball is up your alley, it may be worth the trip to watch The Macalester Scots in person. They’re at home next on November 21st at 7:15 versus Concordia.