Kansas Basketball: Lawson brothers key to deep run for Jayhawks
Kansas basketball blew out the Northeastern Huskies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Dedric Lawson and K.J. Lawson took over in that one, and they’ll both be key for the Jayhawks in March Madness.
The Lawson brothers transferring to the Kansas basketball program was a big deal. Dedric Lawson has been a star all season long and K.J. Lawson showed up on the biggest stage of the season. Both guys had double digit points in KU’s win over Northeastern, as Dedric put up 25 points and K.J. had 13 off the bench.
It’s no coincidence that both of these guys were on fire and the Jayhawks absolutely curb stomped Northeastern. The Huskies never stood a chance, losing 87-53. Fans are now wondering if maybe these Jayhawks were under seeded?
Even if they were, who cares? Let people overlook them, because as I mentioned earlier in the week, the path to the Final Four is quite favorable for KU.
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With this win, Kansas advances to the Round of 32 for a date with Auburn. The fifth-seeded Auburn Tigers narrowly escaped round one with a win, as New Mexico State had several chances to win the game, but made dumb mistakes when it came down to it.
The Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight are both being held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, which means Kansas would have home field advantage against the number one seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, should the teams play to their seeds. That would be huge obviously, but let’s get back to this win first.
Sure, it’s a four-seed against a 13-seed, so KU was going to be heavily favored. Still, the Jayhawks needed a dominating win like this because it’s the kind of win that can show them just what kind of team they can be.
We’ve known all season that the Kansas Jayhawks go as Dedric Lawson goes. If he has a good game, KU is in decent shape to win the game. If, however, teams double team Dedric and he struggles to put up points, it could be a long day/night for Kansas.
If K.J. Lawson gets going in the tournament, that’s huge for the Jayhawks. They need all of the scoring help they can get, as Joel Wagler noted prior to the tournament. Shooting had been an issue for this young team and they put up 87 points in spite of that.
Next. Four Jayhawks Who Need to Step Up in March Madness. dark
Hopefully the Jayhawks have seen now that they are capable of being a high-scoring team and can take it to Auburn on Saturday. The Tigers are all that stands between heading (basically) home to play a top seeded squad at the Sprint Center.