KU’s Lawson ‘ready to get back on the court’ in NIT Season Tip-Off semi vs. Marquette

Kansas’ basketball team has some sightseeing in the Big Apple scheduled for Saturday — the day after the Wednesday/Friday NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“Me, personally, I’m just ready to get back on the court, ready to get out and play,” KU junior forward Dedric Lawson said when asked about his excitement level for a Thanksgiving week trip to New York.

The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Memphis native concedes it’ll be nice to spend some of Thursday’s holiday with not only his brother, K.J., a member of KU’s team. But his mom, Dedra, who will be making this trip as well as some other players’ parents, such as La La Vick, mother of torrid-shooting senior guard Lagerald Vick.

No matter the locale, however, Lawson seems most interested in busting a slump and helping the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks (3-0) defeat unranked Marquette (3-1) in Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. (Central time) semifinal, which follows a 4 p.m. battle between No. 5 Tennessee (3-0) and unranked Louisville (3-0).

“Sometimes on the court I do overthink. I’m trying to play a perfect game,” said Lawson, not pleased with his 13.0 points a game scoring average or 31.4 percent shooting mark. “I want to get everybody involved. I know if others get to rolling, it’ll be easier for me. If I go out and play and have fun, I think I’ll be better.

“A couple times in games I’ve gotten my shot blocked,” added Lawson, who is 0-for-3 from three with 11 assists, 10 turnovers. “I have to work on exploding up in the paint and work on playing above the rim.”

Lawson — he has converted some big free throws in going 17 of 22 from the line — has been putting in overtime in KU’s practice facility since the Jayhawks’ 89-76 victory over Louisiana on Friday — a game in which he had just four points the first half, 15 the second.

“I try to stay in the gym as much as possible,” Lawson said. “Outside of practice, that is the only time you can get better as a player. I spend nights in the gym thinking of ways on offense I can be effective without disrupting the offense and finding ways to score and find ways for other guys to score as well.”

He’s been studying film to help him break loose, as well.

“I was watching highlights the other day of (former KU forward) Markieff Morris and how he played a couple years ago,” Lawson said. “I study the game, watch how those guys (former KU forwards) were effective and such good players.”

KU coach Bill Self is not concerned about the play of Lawson, who still may be shaking off rust after practicing but not playing in games a year ago following his transfer from Memphis.

“He’s missed some bunnies,” Self said of inside buckets. “I’m not worried about Dedric scoring or anything like that. I just want him to be more aggressive and play probably a little bit more to his athletic ability. I don’t think he has really played to the point where he put himself in great positions to score because he hadn’t used his body to shield defenders and I think that is all a form of aggressiveness.”

Self said he’d also like to see continued improvement from 6-5 freshman guard Quentin Grimes, who has averaged 12.3 points a game on 44.8 percent shooting. He’s 9 of 16 from three for 56.3 percent and has 17 assists to five turnovers.

“We need those guys to make plays,” Self said. “I’m not talking about shooting the ball but making plays for themselves or others, take what the defense gives them and not be so content on just being out there. They have to impact the possessions on both ends. We know they can because we’ve seen it, but it’s been small sample sizes.”

Marquette, which has defeated UMBC (67-42), Bethune Cookman (92-59) and Presbyterian (74-55) in Milwaukee, Wis., and been blown out at Indiana, 96-73, is led by junior guard Markus Howard. He averages 20.0 points a game on 47.2 percent shooting. He’s made 12 of 32 threes for 37.5 percent.

“He’s as good a scorer as there is in the country,” Self said of the 5-foot-11 native of Chandler, Ariz. “He puts up numbers. He’s a prolific scorer.”

Brothers Sam Hauser (6-8 junior) and Joey Hauser (6-9 freshman) have contributed 15.5 and 12.0 ppg respectively. They each average 6.5 rebounds a game for a team that has outrebounded four opponents an average of 42.0 to 33.2.

“The Hauser brothers are tall combo forwards that can pick and pop or catch it and drive it, stretch it,” Self said. “They’ve got a team full of really good players and a guy capable of getting 35 or 40 every night.”

The Golden Eagles, who were picked to finish second behind Villanova in the Big East Conference, are coached by former Duke guard Steve Wojciechowski.

“We all have seen him play back at Duke. He’s a guy who certainly got the most out of what he had and was a great leader for them,” Self said of the fifth-year Marquette coach. “As far as mindset, they are ultra aggressive and shoot that ball. There are some similarities with that and how Duke played.”

Awaiting KU in either Friday’s championship game (approximately 8:30 p.m., Central time) or consolation game (6 p.m.) will be either former Texas coach Rick Barnes’ Tennessee Volunteers or Louisville, led by first-year Cardinals coach Chris Mack. He coached Xavier to a 215-97 record the past nine seasons, which included eight trips to the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re going to know a lot more about our team after this week,” Self said. “Michigan State was too early to play (92-87 KU victory on Nov. 6 in Indianapolis) even though we did pretty well. The last two games (wins over Vermont and Louisiana) were probably not true indications even though the way we won is exactly what we needed, having to grind a little bit. Playing Marquette and either Tennessee or Louisville in a three-day window will tell us a lot more about who we are than we know now.”

Only Tennessee has failed to win a national championship of the four teams in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

“I would think that this would be one of the best fields that any of the early-season tournaments have and three of the teams winning national championships speaks to history more so than it does the present. But, the present is still very good,” Self said.

McCormack back in Bronx area

KU freshman forward David McCormack was born in Bronx, N.Y., moving to Norfolk, Va., as a child.

“I moved really early, when I was 3 or 4,” McCormack said. “Still I have plenty of family in New York. There definitely will be a massive turnout for the McCormack family. I don’t have an official count. I know it will be a lot,” he added.

McCormack is hoping to build on his six-rebound effort (in 10 minutes) in KU’s 89-76 victory over Louisiana on Friday..

“It’s definitely the highest profile game (he will have played in),” McCormack said of the Marquette game Wednesday. “Anything that came close to it was the national championship year (last year at Oak HIll Academy). Just playing at Barclays (Center, home of Brooklyn Nets) will be really exciting. I take the same mindset of playing in the fieldhouse and Brooklyn,” he added. “I’m still an energy player, doing what I’m doing no matter what stage we’re playing on.”

Stanford coming up

After this tournament, the Jayhawks will be idle until a Dec. 1 contest against former KU guard Jerod Haase’s Stanford Cardinal at Allen Fieldhouse. It’s the third game of a four-year series with Stanford. KU has won the first two outings, one in Lawrence and one in Sacramento, Calif.

Gary Bedore

Gary Bedore covers University of Kansas athletics for The Star.

This story was originally published November 20, 2018 at 12:41 PM.