Jayhawks run past Cyclones, 80-76
LAWRENCE, Kan. – A 14-0 second-half run along with a 29-point, 15-rebound outing from redshirt-junior Dedric Lawson lifted the No. 9/10 Kansas Jayhawks past the No. 24/25 Iowa State Cyclones, 80-76, Monday night inside Allen Fieldhouse. Senior Lagerald Vick and sophomore Marcus Garrett combined for 22 second-half points, while freshman Devon Dotson chipped in 11 points to go along with a career-high eight assists in the win.
The victory, which improved the Jayhawks to 88-11 under Bill Self when coming off a loss, moved Kansas to 16-3 in the 2018-19 season and 5-2 in the Big 12. Iowa State dropped to 14-5 in its season and fell to 4-3 in the league.
Trailing by six points with just under 13 minutes remaining in regulation, the Kansas Jayhawks put together a six minute spurt that proved to be too much for the Cyclones to overcome. After ISU’s Talen Horton-Tucker connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the night to push his team’s lead to 53-47, KU managed to retake the momentum with its play in the paint.
Vick kick-started the run in a fitting way with a hard take to the rim. All but two of the Jayhawks’ next 12 points came within the paint. KU grabbed its first lead of the second half when Dotson found Vick on an alley-oop at the 10:25 mark to give their team a 55-53 advantage. Six more points during this stretch saw the Kansas lead swell to 61-53 before the Cyclones could halt the surge with a pair of free throws.
It wasn’t just the Jayhawk offense that was clicking on all cylinders. The KU defense held the visitors without a field goal for nearly seven minutes during that stretch which helped it take a 67-59 lead into the final 4:30 of the game.
The Cyclones refused to go down without one more charge though, as a 10-2 ISU run knotted up the score. Back-to-back turnovers on KU’s end led to a pair of Cyclones triples to get the score level, with Michael Jacobson’s 3-pointer with 2:19 remaining evening things up at 69-69.
Kansas responded on its next trip down with a Vick 3-pointer, a basket that ended up giving KU the lead for good. The two teams traded baskets on their next trips down the floor before Lawson connected on the final three points of his night, with a triple from the top of the key to put KU up 77-72 with 23 ticks remaining on the clock. Dotson then hit three-of-four free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the Jayhawk victory, 80-76.
Lawson was the offensive catalyst for the Jayhawks early. The Memphis, Tennessee product tallied nine of the Jayhawks’ first 11 points and helped KU keep pace with a hot-shooting Cyclone squad. ISU, which entered the night hitting a Big 12-leading 8.8 3-pointers per game, proved its prowess from deep over the opening 20 minutes. The Cyclones connected on six threes in the first frame, including a trio of triples from Horton-Tucker to help the visitors withstand several Kansas spurts.
Despite Iowa State’s marksmanship from deep, Lawson and Ochai Agbaji, who connected on a pair of 3-pointers of his own in the opening half, helped the KU offense keep pace by the halftime buzzer. Lawson hit seven of his nine tries from the field and pulled down eight rebounds in the first half as KU headed to the locker room with a 42-37 deficit.
KU managed only one field goal over the first four minutes after the restart. ISU used this scoring slump to push its lead to eight points, 47-39, by 3:41 into the second half. But the Jayhawks regained their footing and exploded on the 14-0 run before holding ISU off for the win.
Lawson led the Jayhawks in scoring for the eighth time this season, posting 29 points on 13-of-17 shooting to go along with 15 rebounds. The performance marked his 13th double-double of the season. Garrett scored in double-figures for the third-straight game, posting 16 points. Vick and Dotson were the other two Jayhawks in double-figures, scoring 14 and 11 points, respectively.
QUOTES – Full Quotes
Head Coach Bill Self
Opening statement:
“It was a great college game and we played from behind or played with no momentum for the vast majority of the game. They were so much faster than us earlier and they moved the ball a lot faster than we could recover and react. (In the) Second half we guarded them better, a lot better. But we did a lot of good things. Devon (Dotson) had eight (assists) and zero [turnovers] and he drove the ball downhill so well. Dedric (Lawson) was unbelievable and Lagerald (Vick) made some shots. Ochai (Agbaji) came in, and it really isn’t fair to put Ochai in that position, but he gets eight points and five rebounds in 16 minutes before he fouls out. But, Marcus Garrett, how good was he again? Now, granted, he missed three free throws that could have iced the game for us, but still though. He did so many good things and we competed harder down the stretch. We had some guys make some plays. We ran crap offense twice there late and then after that we end up getting a stop or two and then made a couple of big-time plays. It was a great win; the crowd was fabulous.”
On Dedric Lawson’s performance:
“I don’t understand the emphasis in the rules. They say you can’t put your knee up the guy’s butt when you are posting up. And (Iowa State) rode (Lawson) out the entire game. We didn’t get the call once. We tried to move him around a little bit more. But the bottom line is he just toughed it out. And anybody who knows Dedric knows his thighs are about as thick as his calves and he has really skinny legs. So, he doesn’t have the base when people push on him and it is hard for him to hold his position. And certainly, (Iowa State) did a really good job of pushing him off the block, but he still managed to maneuver around there.”
Kansas redshirt-junior forward Dedric Lawson
On when he believed the game turned:
“I think it was 46-42, and we got a couple of stops. It was after the 12-minute media timeout, Coach (Self) said to win the next four minutes. We went out there and we competed and we rebounded. Marcus (Garrett) got the rebound and then he came down and scored. Then we got another stop and I think it was Lagerald who hit a big shot, KJ hit a big shot, Marcus drove, and all the momentum changed. We threw the lob, then we were up and they called a timeout. When we go on runs like that, we just need to keep going and finish the game. That (Iowa State) was a great team, give credit to them. They were making shots when they needed to and they made plays when they needed to.”
NOTABLES – Full Notes
- The win extended Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse winning streak to 15 games, including 11-0 this season.
- KU improved its Big Monday record at Allen Fieldhouse to 28-0 under Bill Self. The Jayhawks have won 31-straight Big Monday contests in Allen Fieldhouse.
- The win also improved the Jayhawks to 88-11 following a loss in the Bill Self era. Since the 2013-14 season, the Jayhawks are 37-3 following a loss. When the game following a loss is in Allen Fieldhouse, KU is 48-3 in the Self era, including 2-0 this season.
- Kansas is now 38-4 in conference games decided by 10 points or less since 2016 including a 5-1 record this season.
- With the victory Kansas is now 6-1 vs AP top-25 opponents this season, 96-46 in the Bill Self era.
- Iowa State’s 42 first-half points is the most allowed in the first half during Big 12 play this season by the Jayhawks.
- Iowa State led 53-47 before the Jayhawks went on a 14-0 run spanning 5:17 to take a 61-53 lead, the Cyclones wouldn’t regain the lead. In conjunction with the run, the Jayhawk defense held the Cyclones without a field goal for 7:00.
- Out of ISU’s 10 made field goals in the second half, six were from beyond-the-arc.
- Kansas commuted 11 turnovers on the night of which Iowa State score eight points off. In Ames, Iowa State scored 20 points off 24 KU turnovers.
- Kansas shot 51.6 on the night marking the ninth time this season the Jayhawks have shot 50% or better. Kansas is 9-0 in those games and 247-9 under Bill Self.
- With 5:00 remaining, Kansas led 67-59. Kansas is now 14-2 on the season when leading with 5:00 left to play and 425-17 in the Self era.
- Finishing with 29 points and 15 rebounds, Dedric Lawson has earned a double-double in 13 games this season and 49 overall in his career.
- Lawson made 13 field goals on the night which is a season high for the Jayhawks and the most since Udoka Azubuike knocked down 13 against Nebraska (12/16/2017).
- Lawson’s seven offensive rebounds are the most since Landon Lucas pulled down seven offensive boards against TCU (12/30/2016).
- In his last five games, Lawson is scoring 21.8 points per game on 61.2 percent shooting and 57.1 percent from deep while grabbing 10.2 rebounds per game and blocking 1.6 shots per game.
- Tallying 14 points on the night, Lagerald Vick moved past Ryan Robertson (1,055) and Kelly Knight (1,057) to sit 49th overall in the all-time scoring list at 1,060 points.
- Sophomore guard Marcus Garrett finished with 16 points on the night marking the third-straight game the sophomore has scored in double digits and the 10th in his career.
- Garret has scored 51 points in this span (17.0 ppg) on 22-of-35 shooting (62.9%), while grabbing three rebounds and four steals per game.
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UP NEXT
The top-two all-time winningest programs in college basketball history will meet for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons when Kansas journeys into Rupp Arena to take on the Kentucky Wildcats as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday, Jan. 26. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. (CT) on ESPN. The game will also be the site of ESPN College Gameday. It will mark the 17th time KU has been part of a College Gameday contest.
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