Kentucky trips Kansas 71-63 in SEC/Big 12 Challenge game at Rupp Arena
Dedric Lawson now knows what it’s like to play at fabled Rupp Arena, home of the Kentucky Wildcats.
“Wonderful atmosphere,” Lawson, Kansas’ 6-foot-9, 235-pound junior forward said Saturday after scoring 20 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in the No. 9-ranked Jayhawks’ 71-63 loss to the No. 8-rated Wildcats in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
“I cherished the moment, cherished playing against PJ Washington, who is like a little brother to me.”
Washington, a Kentucky sophomore, is a close personal friend of Lawson.
“We wanted to win. It’s not the end of the world,” Lawson quickly added, repeating the message relayed to the players by Kansas coach Bill Self in the locker room following KU’s fourth loss in 20 games.
Lawson left Rupp Arena with a smile on his face ready to return to Big 12 Conference play Tuesday at Texas, hoping the Jayhawks’ four-guard lineup picked up some valuable lessons Saturday in how to play against a big, aggressive opponent.
Kentucky forwards Washington and Reid Travis, as well as oversized 6-6 guard Keldon Johnson each recorded double-doubles. It’s the first time since records started to be kept at KU in 1988-89 that three players put up double-doubles in the same game against the Jayhawks.
For the record … the 6-8 Washington scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds; the 6-8 Travis scored 18 points and pulled down 12 boards, while the 6-6 Johnson scored 15 points with 10 boards.
What’s more, 6-11 forward Nick Richards had five blocks in nine minutes for Kentucky.
Yes, Kentucky on this night dominated KU’s four-guard lineup.
“Dedric played well tonight,” Self said. “He didn’t make a lot of shots (going 7 of 18). “The reason why he didn’t … we’re obviously light in the butt to put it mildly, going against big, heavy bodies and men. A fifth-year guy (former Stanford player Travis), PJ, who is beyond his years physically and Nick as well. We’ve got one guy ready to go against that. That’s an awful lot to ask from one guy,” Self added.
KU was outrebounded 49-36. Kentucky, which trailed by three at halftime, outboarded KU 23-11 in the second half.
“Obviously their bigs played very well,” Self stated. “Even Nick, who didn’t play a lot, blocks five shots. He impacted the game. Reid and PJ were dominant players. It was two against one in there a lot. We were 6-4 at the other spot. I think we wore our guy (Lawson) out a little bit.”
KU sophomore Marcus Garrett, who again played power forward for KU, scored four points on 1-of-9 shooting with five boards and two steals.
Lawson acknowledged that it was difficult going against all of Kentucky’s bigs. Also, guard Ashton Hagans scored 12 points with seven assists and three steals for Kentucky, and guard Tyler Herro had six points and five assists. KU guard Lagerald Vick scored 10 points, while Quentin Grimes busted a slump by scoring 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He was 3 of 5 from three.
Lawson hit 2 threes in 3 tries for the Jayhawks.
“They threw a lot of bodies at me,” Lawson said. “Reid Travis was a back-to-the basket guy; PJ was more finesse. Both are great players. It’s definitely tough to play against two bigs like that. We play a small-ball lineup and things like that. You’ve got to step up to the plate. You can’t make any excuses. You’ve got to get it done.
“There were times I scored I felt I was one on one. Other times it was more congested than others. Give them credit,” Lawson added of the (16-3) Wildcats. “They came a long way from early in the year and are a good defensive team.”
Kentucky, which won its sixth straight game, outscored the Jayhawks 41-30 the final half. The Wildcats — who last had three players record a double-double in the same game on Feb. 16, 2010 when John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson accomplished the feat against Mississippi State — survived a solid game from Lawson.
“Dedric Lawson did a pretty good job obviously with 20 and 15,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “He’s really good. He can play inside/outside, now he’s playing toward the goal because they lost the big kid (Udoka Azubuike to season-ending injury).
“Could you feel the spirit of PJ today?” Calipari added of Washington. “I’ve been begging him … why are you so tentative? Why are you not sure how good you are? Thing is you play like this, you have to live up to it now,” Calipari added. “How about the way he ran the floor? He’s started to run the floor harder.”
Calipari said a key was “holding them to 36 percent. They had some threes at the end, but I like what we’re doing defensively.”
KU, which was 9 of 23 on three-pointers, hit 36.5 percent of its shots. Kentucky, which missed 14 of 18 threes, hit 39.1 percent.
KU had just nine assists total to Kentucky’s 14. Devon Dotson scored nine points and dished four assists for the Jayhawks.
KU, which led 33-30 at halftime, was outscored 8-0 in a stretch that gave the Wildcats a 52-44 lead at 10:41. KU cut it to 52-49 at 7:06, but UK immediately scored five points in a row.
It was 59-54 at 3:40 when a three from Johnson and a pair of free throws from Travis opened the margin to 10 points (64-54 at 2:13).
“Coach said he’s not discouraged with us, but bonehead plays at the end got us — (ones) we’ve got to learn from going forward,” Lawson said.
KU will next meet Texas at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. Texas (11-9, 3-4) fell to Georgia 95-85 on Saturday in Athens, Ga.
“They were athletic, went to the glass hard. At the end of the day I’m proud of our team, back to the drawing board to get ready for Texas,” Lawson noted.
This story was originally published January 26, 2019 at 7:21 PM.
