KU’s Dotson listens to message from Morris after scoring 29 points in win over ISU
Devon Dotson listened intently as Monday’s honoree, Marcus Morris, spoke to Kansas’ basketball players in the winner’s locker room after the Jayhawks’ 91-71 victory over Iowa State in Allen Fieldhouse.
“He said, ‘Keep going. The road is not always easy. There will be some bumpy patches. Keep pushing through and believe in each other,’’’ Dotson, KU’s sophomore point guard said, reciting the postgame message from nine-year NBA veteran Morris, who had his jersey No. 22 retired in the south fieldhouse rafters in a halftime ceremony.
Dotson — he tested the NBA Draft waters last spring before electing to return to KU for a second season — said he appreciated the postgame words of wisdom from Morris that came during a part of the season that has actually been smooth sailing.
Sparked by Dotson’s 29 points off 11-of-14 shooting, the No. 3-ranked Jayhawks (23-3, 12-1 Big 12) claimed their 11th straight victory heading into Saturday’s 11 a.m. showdown at No. 1 Baylor (23-1, 12-0).
“He was good,” said KU coach Bill Self, who pulled Dotson from the lopsided game for good with 4:24 left. “I thought he got downhill. The shots he took were good shots. He had balance. He had one of our best shooting performances (of season). Who knows what making six in a game can do for his confidence?” Self added of Dotson, who, unguarded on some attempts, hit a career-best six threes in eight tries.
Dotson, KU’s leading scorer, entered the game having hit just 11 of 43 threes in 11 Big 12 Conference games for 25.6%.
“Getting back in rhythm, the swing of things helps a lot. Staying in the gym every day, getting my reps in,” said Dotson. He reported that he’s close to 100% recovered from a right knee injury that’s bothered him since the TCU game on Feb. 8.
“I’m going to shoot it. I’m going to knock ‘em down,” Dotson added, referring to threes taken with the defense daring him to launch from deep. “If that’s what they (opposing defenses) want to do, that’s cool. (I’ll) keep firing.”
Dotson’s teammates were not surprised by his 6-of-8 three-point shooting. Dotson’s previous high in threes this year was three against both UW Milwaukee and Chaminade. His previous career high was four his freshman season against TCU.
“He’s really capable of hitting shots. But I think his main focus is getting to the rim all the time, so you guys don’t get to see how good of a three-pointer shooter he really is,” said freshman Christian Braun, who scored 13 points (all in the first half) on 5-of-6 shooting (3 of 4 from three on night KU hit 12 of 27 treys to ISU’s 11 of 23). “But in practice, he shoots pretty lights out. We got to see that tonight.
“He was impressive offensively obviously. But he does a lot on both ends,” Braun added of the 6-foot-2 Dotson. “He got some steals tonight (three) and just disrupted plays on the defensive end. Then he was knocking down everything on offense. So he was pretty good.”
Center Udoka Azubuike, who scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, said Dotson, “was good today. He was hitting shots, making threes and all that stuff. He was really good for us today.”
Dotson was pleased to see the Jayhawks score 91 points on a night the defense gave up 71 points — an unseemly 40 the first half. KU had allowed just 46 points at TCU and 49 at West Virginia before giving up 70 to Oklahoma on Saturday.
“It shows the weapons we have out there, the firepower we have,” Dotson said. Ochai Agbaji had 14 points and David McCormack 10 while Marcus Garrett totaled five points, eight rebounds and six assists.
“We can play defense. We can play offense. When we combine them it can be special,” Dotson added. “Knowing the past few games the defense carried us … we know our offense is capable.”
Prentiss Nixon scored 20 points and Michael Jacobson 13 points for Iowa State (11-15, 4-9). KU also beat ISU, 79-53, on Jan. 8 in Ames, Iowa.
Monday’s victory, by the way, was KU’s 800th in Allen Fieldhouse. KU is 800-114 in 65 seasons. KU is 262-14 in the fieldhouse during the 17-year Self era. That includes a 134-9 record in home conference games.
“What stands out is the fans. It’s a loud sellout every game,” Dotson said.
Noted Self: “Our players have been responsible for a pretty good chunk of that. We’re proud of that. It great building.”
The 16,300 fans stayed glued to their seats at halftime to hear Morris speak during his jersey retirement ceremony. Self didn’t hear the speech but asked about it after the game.
“I asked Kieff (Marcus’ brother/former KU forward) how Marcus did. He said he was great,” Self said. “I asked Marcus how he did. He said, ‘Coach I killed it.’ I said ‘Where was your motivation?’ He said they (he and Kieff) went back and watched all the other senior speeches. That tells me how much it meant to them and him (Marcus) to come back and do that. That’s probably more studying than they did in a long time. I was happy to see them. And they obviously had a lot of teammates care about them come back too.”
Former KU players Travis Releford, Tyrel Reed, Brady Morningstar, Conner Teahan, Jeff Graves, Tyler Self, Wayne Simien and Mario Little were among those who supported Morris on his big day.
KU will next meet Baylor at 11 a.m. Saturday in Waco, Texas.
This story was originally published February 17, 2020 at 10:06 PM.
