Kansas Responds, Mauls Texas Tech

I'm not a big believer in motivation carrying a team or whatever, but the early energy in this game certainly suggested that KU came out ready to rally around Silvio de Sousa's news from yesterday. The Jayhawks were moving the ball early, connecting on their threes and playing stifling defense against Texas Tech, while the Allen Fieldhouse crowd supported them at deafening levels.

Kansas jumped out to an 18-9 lead at the under 12 mark. Tech would keep the deficit in that general range for a while, but KU wasn't willing to take their foot off the gas. Sure, part of the Jayhawks big time first half was just hitting shots, but it was impressive nonetheless, considering Tech having the 3rd best defense in college basketball. Dedric Lawson went 3-4 from downtown giving him 16 first half points, as KU went into the break up 46-26. It eclipsed Duke's 41 second half points as the most surrendered in a half by the Red Raiders this year.

KU opened up the second half by adding three to their lead as Tech missed their first five free throws, but poor rebounding and a bit of sloppy offensive play with a lead (shocking, I know) let Tech start creeping back in. However, they never really got within striking distance as they started to panic and hoist contested jump shots. 12 was as close as they got before the Jayhawks put their foot back on the gas and won in blowout fashion, 79-63.

Dedric had the most impressive stat line, with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Devon Dotson also had a career day with 20 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Ochai Agbaji also contributed a double double with 10 points and 10 boards. Kansas now heads to Manhattan for a Tuesday night tilt with the Wildcats.