KU’s Dedric Lawson hits shot against Louisiana while seated on Allen Fieldhouse floor

The Harlem Globetrotters would have approved of Dedric Lawson’s trick shot that accounted for his first basket in the past two games on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas junior forward Lawson — he went 0 for 6 in Monday’s 84-68 home victory over Vermont — tossed in a shot while seated in the paint area on the south end of the fieldhouse floor just 93 seconds into the Jayhawks’ 89-76 victory over Louisiana.

The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Memphis native, who missed a driving layup, tumbled to the floor where the ball landed in his lap. He calmly aimed it toward the goal. Ultimately, it swished.

“I thought I got fouled,” he added of his first shot in the sequence. “I really thought he (ref) blew the whistle. I just shot it back up.”

KU coach Bill Self could not recall one of his players ever converting such a shot. He remembers seeing highlights of a former high school player’s shot from the floor being shown on ESPN’s SportsCenter, however.

“If you guys remember the kid from Minnesota, Blake Hoffarber,” Self recalled of the former University of Minnesota player from Minnetonka, Minn. “It was the state championship game. He was on his butt from the three-point line and made it. His feet were across the line so they may have given him a two (pointer). I remember Blake doing that. I can’t remember anybody else,” Self added.

Hoffarber did indeed hit an 18-foot two-pointer while seated to force a second overtime in his Hopkins High team’s 73-60 double-OT win over Eastview in the 2005 Minnesota state finals. He won an ESPY Award for play of the year.

Of Lawson’s shot, Self said: “It was in traffic. He got the rebound sitting on his butt. That was pretty amazing.”

Lawson, who had zero points against Vermont, finished with 19 points (15 the second half) on 6-of-11 shooting (7 of 10 from free throw line) against Louisiana on Friday.

Lightfoot’s flagrant foul

KU junior forward Mitch Lightfoot was called for a flagrant foul in the first half of Friday’s victory. There’s a new rule this season in which a player receives a flagrant foul if he performs a “hook and hold” move on an opposing player in the paint. Lightfoot, who fouled forward Justin Miller on what was deemed such a move, was not ejected from the game ostensibly because Miller did not crash to the floor.

“He locked him. He hit his arm,” Self said of Lightfoot locking elbows with Miller.

The rule has been put in place partly in response to Purdue’s Isaac Haas fracturing his elbow last season after getting tangled with a Fullerton player and crashing to the ground.

“The official told me he has to call it because that’s the rule. He didn’t say there was anything flagrant about it,” Self said. “That is the kind of stuff … it seems to me those things always happen to a reserve. They get in (the game) … I remember when (Chris) Piper played here. Danny (Manning) could commit six fouls and they’d call one. Piper would commit zero and they’d call three when he subbed in. I feel it’s that way for Mitch sometimes, too,” Self added with a smile.

Self whistled for ’T’

Self was called for a technical foul during a time out after JaKeenan Gant cashed a three-point shot to give Louisiana a 30-20 lead with 9:21 left in the first half. Marcus Stroman hit a pair of free throws to give the Ragin’ Cajuns their biggest lead of the contest.

“I didn’t think I deserved it when he gave it to me,” Self said. “I think I may have dodged a bullet before that (when he barked at a ref but was not assessed a technical). Maybe I saw it wrong. I thought Lagerald had that ball (committing a turnover after grabbing a rebound) if that guy (Louisiana player) didn’t hit him from behind on his legs. That’s all it was. I thought that kept him (Vick) from getting possession of the ball.

“We were not playing well. Obviously I was frustrated. I deserved what I got,” Self added. “It wasn’t from saying anything. It was for walking too far out on the court. I didn’t know I could walk out there, but once you get in the paint area it’s considered too far, even on a time out.”

Vick torrid from three

Lagerald Vick, the first player in KU history to hit seven or more threes in back-to-back games (good for 32 points against Vermont, 33 against Louisiana), is 15 of 20 from three the past two games. He is the ninth Jayhawk to post multiple 30-point outings in a career in the 16-year Self era. He’s 15 of 24 from three on the season. The rest of the Jayhawks are a combined 15 of 40 from three over three games.

“I think so much of it is a mindset,” Self said. “When you have energy and your thoughts are positive it looks like you are playing faster. It looks like you are playing harder. When your mind is cluttered, no matter how hard you play it doesn’t look like you are playing as hard. He is so enthusiastic now. I mean almost to a fault. I am not going to stop him from being that way. I like the direction it’s moving.”

Of Vick, KU forward Lawson said: “We’re going to keep feeding him. Like coach (Self) said, we’re going to keep feeding the hot hand until it runs out. Lagerald is the go-to guy from here forward. He and Udoka (Azubuike, 17 points). They’ve both been playing well.”

Gary Bedore

Gary Bedore covers University of Kansas athletics for The Star.

This story was originally published November 17, 2018 at 4:05 PM.