When Boston College forward Boden Kapke drained a tying, 35-foot shot off an inbounds pass with three seconds left in regulation, Tulane could have folded in a consolation game of the Charleston Classic on Sunday.
Curtis Williams had other ideas.
Williams, a 6-foot-6 junior transfer guard from Georgetown, scored the last five of his career-high 32 points in overtime, including a driving layup with 1:08 left that gave the Green Wave (4-2) the lead for good in a bounce-back 93-90 victory after consecutive losses by more than 20 points.
It was his second masterpiece in six games. He opened the season by making all nine of his shots while scoring a then-personal best 22 in an 85-72 win against Samford, This time, he went 12 for 18 in 44 minutes.
“I had no idea he had that many points after the game because it was such an efficient game,” Tulane coach Ron Hunter said. “Guys that score like that and don’t need a lot of shots are pretty good players.”
The next step for Williams is finding consistency. He shot only 12 of 33 in the four games in between those bonkers bookends and was benched along with fellow high-profile transfer Scotty Middleton for the start of Tulane’s loss to Utah State in its Charleston Classic opener. Williams was effective as a reserve, finishing with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots, and Hunter believes the sit-down led to his explosion.
“The thing about him and Scotty is we’ve been trying to slow the game down,” he said. “I took them out of the lineup just so they could see it when we played against Utah State, and it helped because when he got in the game, he really got going. Things have really slowed down for him. He’s a really talented player trying to take his skill set and incorporate what we’re doing.”
Williams scored from outside, sinking four 3s against Boston College, and inside, repeatedly finishing drives with lay-ups.
“That was a big thing I had to work on coming from my freshman year to my junior year now, absorbing the contact, being able to get to the rim and finish,” he said. “I’ve been able to finish with my left and right hand because I’ve been working on it so much. I’m not the most athletic, so I really work on my skill a lot. I’m able to get to the spots on the court where I know I’m going to succeed.”
Williams will try to pick up where he left off against Boston College when Tulane hosts Nicholls (0-5) on Friday (2 p.m., ESPN+). The Wave leads the series 21-1, most recently winning 91-81 in 2023-24.
The Colonels are on the sixth leg of a seven-game paycheck road stretch to start the season, including defeats at Kentucky and Oklahoma State. Picked third in the preseason Southland Conference poll of coaches and sports information directors with three first-place votes, they won 20 games in both of third-year coach Tevon Saddler’s first two seasons.
It was the first time in program history Nicholls reached that mark in back-to-back years.
The Colonels will face a Tulane team that feels much better about itself than it did a week ago coming off an 85-63 loss to UNO. The Wave played a strong first half against perennial NCAA tournament participant Utah State in Charleston before exhibiting tremendous fortitude against Boston College.
“We needed that win for sure, especially against an ACC team to show we belong and are a good team,” Williams said. “The UNO loss, we really took that with us and responded great in the tournament.”
Williams’ 32-point outburst came after Rowan Brumbaugh’s 33-point day against Texas State, giving Tulane twice as many 30-point individual efforts as in all of 2024-25.
“That’s why I like this team,” Hunter said. “If a guy’s not playing well, we have other guys that can step in. The guys are coming. What I’m excited about is what we’re going to look like in about six or seven weeks.”
