Kansas Basketball: A look at star forward Dedric Lawson’s dominant season

Key Games

This was a very successful year for Dedric Lawson for his first, and possibly only season at Kansas. He had some monster games during his time, but he also struggled at times in key moments. Here are some of the key games from this season that were against top teams, or he put up monster numbers.

One of his best games of the season was in a home win over Iowa State. He had the full arsenal on display in this impressive performance. He finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Jayhawks to an 80-76 win. His shots were falling from anywhere on the floor as he went 13-17 from the field including 2-2 from three-point range. That was a close game throughout and a Dedric Lawson three-pointer with 23 seconds left extended the Kansas lead to five which pretty much put the game away.

The very next game he went up against Kentucky and their top-notch front line. PJ Washington and Reid Travis are two of the best big men in all of college basketball. Those two gave Lawson a lot of fits and they were extremely effective. They combined to score 38 points and grab 25 rebounds on 14-28 shooting. Without Udoka Azuibike and having to play alongside Marcus Garrett for much of the game it was a tough matchup for Lawson.

Dedric Lawson still put up good numbers in that game as he finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Despite those numbers, he really struggled for much of the game. He shot just 7-18 from the field despite going 2-3 from three-point range. He is a very talented player, but he isn’t extremely physical inside and he was exposed in this matchup.

A blowout loss at Texas Tech late in the regular season also showed some of his flaws. They have a strong big inside in Norense Odiase, but they also have an all-around elite defense that makes it tough on anybody to score. In this game, he finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds on just 3-8 shooting from the field. It was a tough game for him as he was never able to get going. When he isn’t able to get going, nobody gets going and that’s why they lost 62-91.

There were many more games that he dominated in, but those three give a good overview of how his season went. More often than not he was very good, but when he struggled the team struggled. Often when he struggled it was because he had a tough personal matchup. His stellar season has led to the possibility that his time in college could be over.