Saturday, March 19, 2016

Thomas Walkup: Inside The Numbers

Thomas Walkup cemented his March legend with 33 points in Stephen F. Austin's upset of West Virginia Friday night in NCAA Tournament. (Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images)

BY RAY FLORIANI

Brooklyn, NY - Thomas Walkup is a basketball player. Period. He is not penciled in as a one, two or three, maybe because he has played and guarded all those positions during his Stephen F. Austin career. On Friday, he was, as his coach Brad Underwood stated “the best player on the floor.” Little argument, especially from the opposition, as the Lumberjacks defeated West Virginia 70-56 in the NCAA Tournament’s first round at Barclays Center.

Points: 33
FG: 6-15
FT: 19-20
Rebounds: 9
Assists: 4
Turnovers: 2
Blocks: 1
Steals: 4
Minutes: 37
Effectiveness Factor: 51
EF per minute: 1.38

The EF and per minute totals were off the charts, and the numbers do justice to the type of performance the 6-4 senior put together on Friday night. KenPom numbers had Walkup using 27 percent of the team possessions, with an offensive rating of 133 entering the tournament. On Friday, those metrics read:

Percentage of Possessions: 37
Offensive Rating: 136

He was entrusted with even a greater percentage of team possessions. Obviously, he delivered in a big way.

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