Kansas slams Texas Tech 79-63: ‘I think there was some pent-up frustration’
Kansas sophomore Marcus Garrett suffered a nasty left ankle sprain during Friday’s practice at Allen Fieldhouse.
X-rays proved negative, but there was no way the starting combo guard would be able to play in Saturday’s home showdown between the No. 11-ranked Jayhawks and No. 16 Texas Tech.
Shortly after Friday’s workout, KU athletic director Jeff Long informed head coach Bill Self that forward Silvio De Sousa was finished for this season — and also next season — because of an unfavorable NCAA ruling on De Sousa’s eligibility.
Suffice it to say, after all the bad news — news piled on a team that had lost two consecutive games and three of four — the Jayhawks were anxious to step on the court for Saturday’s 3 p.m. tipoff.
“I think there was some pent-up frustration with Marcus getting hurt and Silvio’s situation,” Self said after the Jayhawks’ 79-63 rout of the Red Raiders (17-5, 5-4) at Allen Fieldhouse. I know our guys felt the need to have something good happen today.
KU (17-5, 6-3) never trailed in a game in which it led 46-26 at halftime and by as many as 24 points the final half.
“We appreciate everybody sticking with our guys because it’s been a rocky couple weeks without question,” Self stated.
Kansas junior forward Dedric Lawson scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while freshman point guard Devon Dotson contributed a career-high 20 points, senior guard Lagerald Vick 13 points and six rebounds and freshman guard Ochai Agbaji 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Their efforts helped put a smile on the faces of De Sousa — who sat on the bench wearing a gray sports coat over a stylish T-shirt and a pair of jeans — as well as Garrett, who wore a black KU golf shirt, black pants and a gray boot on his left foot.
Garrett is OK — he’s listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game against Kansas State but should be back for next Saturday’s contest against Oklahoma State, Self said. De Sousa, however, is not feeling as well.
“He is crushed, which anybody would be crushed,” Self said of the 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward whose college career may be over because of an eligibility issue. “He held his head high, looked sharp today, looked like a model today in that outfit. He knew a lot of eyes would be on him today. He’s handled it as well as anybody could handle it.
“He has a sweet spirit about him,” Self added. “I can’t imagine what’s going through his head. He’s thinking, ‘Am I done? Am I done?’ His dreams of playing in the NBA will be toast unless he can go overseas and turn it out to get chances after that, but that’s not the best way guys make it.
“We’ll stick with him. Our AD, Jeff (Long), has come out strong in his sentiment on how he feels this was so wrongly done (by NCAA) and we’ll fight it. It’s a tough deal, but hopefully his attitude will stay straight. I don’t think he’ll run from anything. There will come a point in time he has to make a decision about his future. Hopefully we can work on something to put him in a situation that maybe the penalty can be reduced (and he’ll be able to play next season at KU),” Self added.
Playing without Garrett, De Sousa and of course, Udoka Azubuike, who has missed the last nine games and will miss the rest of the season because of a hand injury, the Jayhawks cashed 9 threes in 15 tries the first half (13 of 30 for game to Tech’s 6 of 28) and opened a 20-point halftime lead.
“I thought our guys did a good job with it. They were disappointed and down. They love the guy (De Sousa) and hurt for him. They used that as a rallying cry, too,” Self said.
Lawson, who was 3 for 3 from three, said he’s spoken with De Sousa since the NCAA verdict sent shockwaves through the locker room on Friday.
“Silvio is a great human being. I don’t wish that (two-year suspension) on anybody,” Lawson said. “That’s a harsh punishment for a guy who is such a great person. You always see him laughing, smiling the whole time. He makes me better guarding me every day, playing as hard as he would if he played in the games.”
Of Garrett, Lawson added: “Marcus had a freak accident. He stepped wrong. We wanted to get the win for those guys, lift their spirits, be good teammates.”
Lawson, Dotson and Vick each hit three threes on Saturday. Dotson also had four assists, three steals and three rebounds in 34 minutes.
“He controlled the game,” Self said of Dotson. “Every time he made a mistake, he made up for it, got it back right away.”
Backup point guard Charlie Moore dished six assists in 15 minutes. Meanwhile, freshman guard Ogbaji completed a pair of alley-oop dunks via lob passes from Moore. Agbaji also took a charge on a dunk attempt by Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver.
Agbaji guarded Culver, who scored 10 points on 5-of-17 shooting (0 of 6 from three).
“We came together,” Agbaji said. “We had a lot of pressure going into the game. Obviously we didn’t have a really good week last week. I think we handled it well.”
Of his defense, Agbaji said: “We had to pick up the slack for (Garrett) on the defensive end. I think we did it well.”
Texas Tech, which defeated KU by 12 points last season at Allen Fieldhouse (the worst home loss in the Self era at KU), was led by Davide Moretti, who had 14 points. Tariq Owens scored 12 points and grabbed 10 boards
KU jumped out to a 10-2 lead and stretched the lead to 13-4, 21-9, 30-18 and 34-20. After leading by as many as 23 early in the second half, the lead never dipped below 13 the rest of the way.
“The guys were turned up, played great,” Self said. “The difference was we played with a lot more energy and togetherness. Even when we made mistakes, they couldn’t take advantage because we were flying around.”
KU is set to play Kansas State at 8 p.m., Tuesday, at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan.
This story was originally published February 2, 2019 at 5:23 PM.
