Lawson’s 31 points help KU paste Emporia State 93-55: ‘I felt like a freshman out there again’

A double-double machine his sophomore year at Memphis, Dedric Lawson didn’t disappoint on Thursday night in his long-awaited Kansas basketball debut.

Lawson scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the first half and finished with 31 points and 15 rebounds in 23 minutes as the Jayhawks coasted to a somewhat sloppy 93-55 victory over Division II Emporia State at Allen Fieldhouse.

Lawson, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound junior power forward — who recorded a whopping 19 double-doubles in 2016-17, then practiced but did not play in games last season at KU — made 11 of 16 shots overall on Thursday.

But he also had four of KU’s unsightly total of 22 turnovers, a stat that didn’t escape the watchful eye of coach Bill Self.

“He said it was the ugliest 31 he’s ever seen. I agree with him,” said Lawson, an Associated Press preseason All-American who was 2 of 4 from three and 7 of 9 from the line. He hit 4 of 7 shots the first half while playing just 11 minutes. Guard Charlie Moore (nine points, 16 minutes) cashed three three-pointers the first half as the Jayhawks led 45-22 at the break.

“As the season goes on and we get practice under our belt, the game will get easier for us,” Lawson added. “I felt like a freshman out there again.”

Yet he added he followed the advice of his mom and dad, who he spoke to Wednesday night, as well as Self on Thursday, who told him to “’have fun.’ I did have fun out there,” he added of competing in a game for the first time in a long time.

Self said Lawson “did fine and everything.”

But … “I told him after, that’s the ugliest 31 I’ve ever seen anybody get — off balance, he fumbled some balls. He has to get more than one assist a game for us. I will say when you sub everybody out the first four, five minutes, you lose rhythm,” added Self, who held Lawson to 23 minutes, 11 the first half. “Dedric can score. He certainly can play better than that.”

Self was not pleased with his four bigs. The Jayhawks were without sophomore big Silvio De Sousa, who watched from the bench wearing a casual white shirt and jeans. He’s practicing but not playing in games as the NCAA and KU look into eligibility issues brought up in the recent trial regarding corruption in college basketball recruiting.

“Doke (Azubuike, six turnovers, seven rebounds, two points) … was least a factor as Doke has been any time I can remember,” Self said.

“It’s also hard for big guys to play against little guys. They did a good job trapping the post. We’ve not worked on that yet. Our bigs turned it over at an alarming rate. We’ve got to correct that.”

KU’s forwards had 15 turnovers; the guards six. KU had one team turnover. Emporia State, which hit just 27.8 percent from the field to KU’s 50.8, had 14 turnovers.

Guard Marcus Garrett had nine rebounds to go with five points; Azubuike seven boards with two points.

Lawson scored 10 points as the Jayhawks grabbed a 10-3 lead at the 16:15 mark of the first half. At that point, he had hit 3 of 5 shots and grabbed six boards. Devon Dotson (eight points, four rebounds) was the second KU player to score, cashing two free throws at 15:44 to give KU a 12-3 lead.

By half, Lawson had a double double — his first of what he hopes will be many at KU. He was given a pep talk by former KU guard Sherron Collins, who spoke to Lawson prior to the start of the second half.

“He told me to dunk more,” Lawson said with a smile. “I’ll do better than that. Coach said ‘careless play.’ Four (turnovers) were on me. I need to help tighten it up with the bigs. The bigs need to take care of the ball for us to be a successful team this year.”

Quentin Grimes (10 points) had a highlight-film sequence in the initial half, blocking a shot on the defensive end and completing a driving layup on the other end. Also, 6-8 Mitch Lightfoot (three points, three boards) drilled a three in the the first half for KU, which hit 12 of 30 threes on the night. In the second half, Azubuike stepped in front of a Hornet player for a steal, dribbled to the goal for a possible layup, but was fouled and missed two free throws. Shortly after, he put down a vicious dunk.

Emporia State was led by Hassam Thomas, who had 17 points. The exhibition marked the debut of coach Craig Doty at Emporia State.

KU will next meet Washburn in its second and final exhibition game at 7 p.m. next Thursday at Allen Fieldhouse. The Ichabods are coached by former KU player and staff member Brett Ballard.

The Jayhawks open the 2018-19 season for real against Michigan State in the Champions Classic at 6 p.m. Nov. 6 in Indianapolis.

Notes

• A recruit in the Class of 2021 attended the game on an unofficial visit. He’s Khristian Lander, a 5-foot-11 sophomore from F.J. Reitz High School in Evansville, Ind. He is ranked No. 30 in the class by Rivals.com. He has received offers from Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and others.

• KU walk-on Elijah Elliott had a fever, thus did not attend the game, Self said.

• Freshman Ochai Agbaji scored eight points and had four boards. He was 2 of 2 from three. Self has said a redshirt season is possible for Agbaji.

“He’ll be a good player,” Self said. “He’s been pretty timid the last couple weeks. At the end he had a couple (shots) go down that will help him. He looks like a player to me. He has shoulders, length and athletic ability. My personal opinion is he’s too good to play (only) five minutes a game (his frosh season). He has to emerge to be one of the top five on the perimeter or it’d be in our best interests and his to think about doing the redshirt thing,” Self added, noting he he had yet to address the possibility with Agbaji or his family.

Gary Bedore

Gary Bedore covers University of Kansas athletics for The Star.

This story was originally published October 25, 2018 at 9:12 PM.