Lightfoot helps assure KU’s home victory over K-State: ‘You protect the cathedral’
Appreciative Kansas basketball fans leapt to their feet with 49 seconds left in the Jayhawks’ 64-49 victory over Kansas State on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
They reserved a special, lengthy standing ovation for junior forward Mitch Lightfoot, who exited the game for good with nine points, five rebounds, three blocked shots, two assists and one charge taken on defense in 31 productive minutes.
“Man, to grow up a Kansas fan … I’m not going to lie I got goosebumps a little bit,” Lightfoot said, referring to his reaction to the fans’ applause. “It’s so cool to be a piece of something so much bigger than me,” added the 6-foot-8 Lightfoot, who was born in Kansas City and moved to Arizona when he was 6.
Lightfoot on Monday came off the bench to score eight points in 15 minutes the first half. His effort and energy certainly helped KU grasp a 34-27 halftime advantage.
Early on offense, he sped by K-State senior forward Dean Wade for a layup in which he was fouled (missing the free throw). Lightfoot also nailed a three-pointer and hit a second inside shot. On defense, Lightfoot took a charge from Makol Mawien. He also had a fierce rejection of a Barry Brown shot.
“When he (Lightfoot) came in, it was almost like you couldn’t take him out,” said KU coach Bill Self. Lightfoot subbed for starter David McCormack with 14:38 left in the first half, KU trailing 7-3. Lightfoot played the rest of the half, then started the second half in which he scored one point with three rebounds and two blocks in 16 minutes. KU outscored K-State 30-22 in the final 20 minutes.
“When Mitch plays with that energy it does something to our fans that some other players, when they do the same thing, can’t accomplish. He changes the mood in the building the way he plays,” Self added in praising Lightfoot on Tuesday night’s weekly Hawk Talk radio show.
“I would say it probably means as much to Mitch to play well against K-State maybe more than anybody on our team. They’ve got guys like that, too. Dean Wade obviously. Everybody has somebody like that.”
Lightfoot helped hold senior power forward Wade to eight points on 2-of-7 shooting in 25 minutes. KU’s double teams helped force Wade into four turnovers. Wade, a native of St. John, Kan., had scored 12 points with nine boards in K-State’s 74-67 victory over KU on Feb. 5 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
“It was a blast,” Lightfoot said of Monday’s victory. “It’s a huge rivalry. We all took it to heart. It means so much to so many people. We just wanted to show that.”
KU, which has a 10-5 record in the Big 12 (KSU is 11-4 and Texas Tech started Tuesday 10-4), improved to 15-0 at Allen Fieldhouse this season and 8-0 in league home games.
“You protect the cathedral. This place is sacred ground of basketball,” Lightfoot said of Allen. “People come in here and it’s not an easy place to play.”
Lightfoot on Monday may have been so fired up that he botched an assignment to start the second half. The mistake had KU coach Self smiling, but only after the game.
“Mitch is one of those guys you can’t help but love him,” Self said, “but we talked at halftime how we were going to get a stop on the first possession (of the second half). It’s their ball first possession. We’re out there, Mitch thinks it’s our ball and he doesn’t guard anybody. He thought it was our ball going to the wrong basket, but that’s Mitch. He was like, ‘Oh, my bad.’ You’ve got to feel so happy for him,” Self added of Lightfoot contributing heavily to KU’s 13th consecutive home win over KSU.
Lightfoot and Dedric Lawson wound up combining for 27 points and 19 boards. Lawson had 18 points, 14 boards and five assists.
“Mitch played great. he brought energy, protected the rim (three blocks). That’s something we need from Mitch on a consistent basis,” Lawson said. “He’s a great kid, a great human being, a great person to be around.”
Lightfoot, by the way, has averaged 20.2 minutes a game the last six games after averaging 8.3 minutes his first 20 games.
Achiuwa completes visit
Precious Achiuwa, a 6-9 senior forward from Montverde (Fla.) Academy, completed his official visit to KU on Tuesday. The No. 16-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2019 according to Rivals.com has a list of KU, North Carolina, UConn, Memphis, Georgia, Western Kentucky, St. John’s, Florida State and UCLA. He’s already taken unofficial visits to Memphis, UConn, Western Kentucky and St. John’s. He will visit North Carolina for the UNC-Duke game on March 9.
Self praises Garrett
Self on his Hawk Talk show praised sophomore guard Marcus Garrett, who scored six points with four rebounds, two steals and a block in 27 minutes Monday.
“Marcus is playing on one leg,” Self said of the Dallas native. He has played in the last two games after missing five in a row because of a severe ankle sprain.
“He was so important last night because Ochai (Agbaji, no points, three boards, 16 minutes) had an off night. If you don’t have Marcus where do you go if Ochai has an off night? Ochai has earned the right to have a couple nights not go his way because he’s had so much go so right so fast. Marcus was great. Quentin (Grimes, 12 points, three boards, 36 minutes) had a great game. That little guard out front … that is a ballplaying dude,” Self added of Devon Dotson, who had 16 points and three assists to one turnover in 33 minutes. Dotson also was cited for stellar defense on K-State senior guard Barry Brown, who scored four points on 1 of 8 shooting in 35 minutes.
