Dotson returns, scores 12 points in KU’s 102-42 ‘tuneup’ win over Pittsburg State
Kansas has its preseason all-Big 12 point guard back in plenty of time for Tuesday night’s Champions Classic game against Duke.
Devon Dotson, who missed the Jayhawks’ exhibition opener against Fort Hays State a week ago because of a sprained ankle, scored 12 points and dished seven assists in Thursday’s 102-42 exhibition game victory against Pittsburg State at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I’m glad I got a college game under my belt. I’m good,” said Dotson, who returned to practice a day after the Oct. 24 Fort Hays State game.
Dotson likely needed the Halloween night contest to shake off some rust prior to the regular-season opener against the Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden.
Doston missed 9 of his first 10 shots, then hit his final three attempts against outmanned Pittsburg State, which hit just 27.1 percent of its shots to KU’s 54.1 percent. KU committed just four turnovers to Pitt State’s 14.
“Got to keep shooting. It’s a tuneup game for a reason,” Dotson said. “(It’s about) getting your legs back underneath you and finding that touch, finding that rhythm. I’m fine,” added Dotson, who was 2 of 7 overall on three-pointers.
KU as a team hit 17 of 38 threes to Pitt State’s 7 of 28.
Dotson’s errant shooting didn’t matter much Thursday because of the torrid shooting performance of sophomore combo guard Ochai Agbaji.
Agbaji, a 6-5 wing out of Oak Park High School, scored 16 points the first half (on 6-of-6 shooting, 4 of 4 from three) and finished with 19 points on 7-of-8 marksmanship (5 of 6 threes) in 22 minutes. He also had six assists and four rebounds.
“He was on fire tonight,” Dotson said of Agbaji, who scored a team-leading 21 points in the exhibition opener — a 30-point victory over Fort Hays State.
“It was good to see the ball go in the basket. Everybody shot it well except for ‘Dot (Dotson),’’’ KU coach Bill Self stated.
Dotson scored five points and dished five assists in the first half of Thursday’s easy blowout win that featured early leads of 8-2, 24-4 and 31-8 at the 8:44 mark.
Starting Kansas center Udoka Azubuike scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting with 12 rebounds in 21 minutes. He had eight points and seven rebounds the first half. He finished 0 of 4 from the free-throw line on a night KU hit 5 of 12 free throws to Pitt State’s 3 of 6.
Azubuike was 1 of 5 on free throws vs. Fort Hays State. So the 7-footer went 1 of 9 from the line during the preseason.
“What can solve the issues is he has a mental block with it,” Self said of Azubuike’s free throws.
“I’ve got to do something to help him with that,” Self added. “He makes them in practice. It looks different in games. It has a totally different feel to it. He has to make at least 50 percent or they’ll ‘Hack a Shaq’ him. As strong as he is, people won’t just give up layups. They’ll try to make sure he has to earn them. He should shoot 500 a day the next few days (leading to Duke).”
Starting Kansas forward David McCormack had 13 points and five rebounds and forward Silvio De Sousa nine points and 10 boards.
Senior shooting guard Isaiah Moss, who didn’t play in the Fort Hays State game because of a hamstring injury, scored three points on 1-of-4 three-point shooting while playing five minutes in his exhibition debut.
Moss hit his first shot, a three-pointer at 13:52, to give KU a 22-4 advantage. Moss, a graduate transfer from the University of Iowa, did not play the second half, which Self said was the plan heading into the contest.
“I was told he could go 10 minutes,” Self said of Moss. “Whether five or 10 I wanted him to get a little feel in case there’s a possibility we can use him some Tuesday.”
McCormack scored six quick points and Azubuike two, forcing Pittsburg State to call a timeout at 17:53 with KU up 8-2. KU never looked back, leading 49-22 at half and 61-22 early in the second half.
Kansas guard Marcus Garrett scored two points in 14 minutes in the half. He finished with five points and three assists in 16 minutes. Garrett tweaked his ankle the first half. It was not serious as he returned to the game the final half.
Freshman Tristan Enaruna had nine points, eight boards and five assists in 21 minutes. Freshman Christian Braun hit three three-pointers and had nine points in 21 minutes.. Mitch Lightfoot had nine points in 13 minutes for the Jayhawks.
“We didn’t play as well against their zone,” Self said. “It is good to take care of the ball. At one time we had 24 assists and just one turnover. That’s a positive. In practice when we go five-on-zero, we turn it over a lot.”
Dotson said it was great that 12 Jayhawks scored in the game.
“It’s good to get everybody some confidence going into the game Tuesday,” Dotson said of the 6 p.m., Central time, tipoff. “It’s a great feeling getting these two tuneup games under our belt,” he added.
Notes: Drew Roelfs and Grant Harding led Pittsburg State with nine points apiece. ... Christian Edmondson and Harding had six rebounds apiece, but KU outrebounded the Gorillas 52-30. ... KU leads the overall series with Pittsburg State 13-0, which includes a 9-0 record in exhibition games. The two teams have played exhibition games every other season starting in 2003. … KU won the last meeting 100-54 on Oct. 31 2017. KU, which has won 31 straight exhibition games dating to Oct. 30, 2012, is 90-9 in exhibition history. … KU has won 52 straight exhibition games at Allen Fieldhouse and is 63-4 overall in home exhibitions. … KU is 58-2 in exhibition play in Self’s 17 seasons.
Recruiting notes: Karim Mane, a 6-5 senior combo guard from Vanier High School in Montreal, has sliced his list of schools to 10, according to northpolehoops.com. They are: KU, Marquette, Memphis, Michigan State, Georgetown, Alabama, Illinois, Maryland, Cal and Wake Forest.
Mane is considered the top prospect in Canada in the class of 2020. He is listed as a 5-star recruit by Rivals.com, which does not rank players from outside the United States. … Moses Moody, a 6-5 senior small forward from Montverde Academy in Florida, who is ranked No. 50 in the recruiting class of 2020 by Rivals.com, earlier this week eliminated KU from his list of schools. He has a final list of Arkansas, Michigan and Virginia. Moody cut KU, Florida, USC and Ohio State. Moody is a native of Arkansas.
This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 9:05 PM.
