Wolverines' Walton, Cowboys' Evans rule from backcourt

When Michigan and Oklahoma State meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, there will be no shortage of fireworks.

But when Friday’s display between two of the most efficient offensive teams in the country sets off, all eyes will gravitate toward the center of the show: Oklahoma State sophomore Jawun Evans and Michigan senior Derrick Walton Jr.

Evans, an All-Big 12 first team selection, and Walton, an All-Big Ten second team member, enter the matchup as two point guards playing at the top of their game and arguably as well as anyone else in the nation.

Oklahoma State first-year coach Brad Underwood scouted Evans throughout his high school career, first as an assistant at South Carolina then as the coach at Stephen F. Austin, and said he’s been fortunate to inherit a player of Evans’ caliber. Over 31 games this season, Evans is averaging 19 points on 44.1 percent shooting, 6.2 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 29 minutes.

“What I've been so pleased with is how much better he has gotten, just physically in strength, his willingness to work,” Underwood said during a Big 12 coaches’ conference call on Monday. “He's a gym rat. He spends a ton of time in the gym. So, he's been everything that I had imagined, that I envisioned and more because he's a terrific young man and a great competitor.”

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Evans started the season on a tear, scoring at least 30 points three times in the first five games, including a 35-point outburst against Connecticut and 30-point performance against North Carolina in back-to-back games in the Maui Invitational.

Then after Oklahoma State started 0-6 in Big 12 play, the Cowboys took off as Evans’ game did in late January. He spearheaded a 10-1 stretch where posted a double-double (16 points, 12 assists) and had three games with at least 21 points and eight assists.

Although Oklahoma State closed the season with three straight losses, Evans did everything he could and more. He scored 29 at Iowa State, tallied 22 points and 15 assists in the regular-season finale against Kansas, and scored 29 against Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament opener.

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“I think he was very good early. He was great in Maui and then I think with the understanding of what we're doing, he's made our other players better,” Underwood said. “It wasn't about just him getting his. He's got games with 15 assists and 12 assists.

“My definition of a great player is a good player makes himself better, a great player makes his teammates better. Jawun has made everybody on our team better with his play and that's happened the last half of the year.”

Like Evans, Walton has been equally as impressive and vital to Michigan’s success down the stretch.

After scoring 20-plus points three times and recording zero double-doubles over the first 17 games, Walton scored at least 20 points eight times — including five straight games at one point — and notched four double-doubles in the second half of the season.

Walton also helped lead the Wolverines to a 6-2 mark over their final eight Big Ten contests with at least 15 points and five assists in five games, highlighted by his 18-point, 16-assist performance against Nebraska in the regular-season finale that set a single-game program record for assists.

"I just have loved watching the evolution that we've seen of him over four years and it was gradual. It's not like there was any turning point,” Michigan coach John Beilein said during his weekly radio show Monday night. “There's just this time that the game really slows down for different players and he started really seeing some things and seeing some areas where he really has the ability but never probably have done it before. It's almost like you're going down a roller coaster and you don't want to go on that roller coaster because you just fear what it might feel like then you go down and you find it's fun.

“He has those opportunities to just play his game and go one-on-one and hit step-back jumpers and maybe chirp a little bit back down the floor. He just has some swag about him that we've been trying to get out of him. Boy, he was terrific. He makes coaches much better coaches when he plays like that."

In the Big Ten tournament, Walton continued to play at a whole different level to lead the eighth-seeded Wolverines to their first championship since 1998 and become the lowest seed to ever win the title. He averaged 20.5 points, 6.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 38.3 minutes in the four wins where he saved his best for the semifinal and final.

Against Minnesota, Walton carried the Wolverines to victory with a 29-point, nine-assist and five-rebound performance where he either assisted or scored on 18 of Michigan’s final 20 points over the last seven minutes of the game. Then against Wisconsin in final, Walton helped Michigan open up a double-digit lead in the first half with three consecutive 3-pointers before sealing it with six points and two assists in the final 1:32.

“We wouldn't be where we are without him and he's had some good guys around him. He has really done a great job and it's brought along all the other parts of his game,” Beilein said. “Everybody has got this little roll, so if there ever was a time that we just needed a basket, Derrick is starting to draw now their top defender. When he's got (Wisconsin’s Zak) Showalter on him, that is a tough one and it's tough to get any points on him.”

With the season now in one-and-done territory, Underwood knows anything can happen. In his three seasons at Stephen F. Austin, he led the Lumberjacks to two upset wins in the first round: beating No. 5 VCU as a No. 12 seed in overtime in 2014 and ousting No. 3 West Virginia as a No. 14 seed last year.

“It's about enjoying the moment, it's about playing as hard as you can,” Underwood said. “It's trying to get your players to play at a peak level.

“We got to find just that little bit of extra so we can get a peak performance from a lot of guys and that's what happens and that's how teams advance.”

When it all boils down, Evans and Walton may be the fine line that decides.

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

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No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 10 Oklahoma State

What: First-round game in NCAA Tournament

Tip-off: 12:15 p.m. Friday

Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

TV/radio: CBS/950

Records: Michigan 24-11, Oklahoma State 20-12