Landen Lucas, key in KU basketball win at Kentucky, getting 'better and better'
Senior forward makes all six shot attempts, limits Adebayo
Scott Chasen
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Hearing a whistle go against him for the fifth time, Landen Lucas couldn't help but smile.
With just 39 seconds remaining in Saturday's game at Rupp Arena, No. 2 Kansas was firmly in control. The Jayhawks were in the midst of a 19-10 second-half spurt and were putting the finishing touches on an impressive 79-73 win over No. 4 Kentucky.
Lucas walked toward the bench as a small group of students serenaded him with the chorus of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," often sung in these situations. But as the students wished him on his way, the senior big man fired up one last shot.
Lucas nonchalantly raised his left arm and pointed up at the jumbotron, calling attention to KU's eight-point lead. The singing quieted down and Lucas finished his walk in peace. Moments later, the Jayhawks had won, and a huge part of that had been the man who not only quieted the crowd during a stop in the action, but during play as well.
"Uh, without Landen," freshman guard Josh Jackson said, pausing to gather himself after a chuckle, "I don't know where we would be."
While a definite answer would be impossible to predict, the Jayhawks (19-2) would've been missing perhaps their most valuable piece without the former 3-star recruit. After all, not only did Lucas make all six of his field goal attempts, he did perhaps his most important work on the defensive side of the ball.
Much of the talk before the game was about the matchup inside. Kentucky forward Bam Adebayo was poised for another big game, which seemed to be an early emphasis, as the Wildcats (17-4) continually went inside early with the hope of coaxing Lucas into foul trouble.
But Lucas held his ground. He walled up over and over, and continued to do so. He wasn't made available to the media after the game, but there was no shortage of praise for his 13-point, five-rebound performance.
Junior forward Dwight Coleby, who spelled Lucas for a majority of the time he was off the court, noted his teammate was effective in forcing Adebayo away from the hoop, positioning his body on both ends of the floor in the right places to capitalize.
"He just (was) in the right spots. He's been playing so long," Coleby said. "He's been stepping up for us all year, really. So he's been getting better and better."
Certainly Lucas filled out the right spots on the stat sheet. If there was a downside, it was only in one column.
Lucas picked up his first foul just two minutes and 45 seconds seconds into the game, but managed to play well with two and three fouls for a majority of the contest. And as KU coach Bill Self noted, the game was already out of reach by the time Lucas fouled out.
"I thought Landen played very smart," Self said. "He fouled out, but he wasn't really in foul trouble because his fourth and fifth came so late."
With Adebayo getting to the line over and over — "He almost fouled out, like, all of our bigs," Jackson said after the game — the Jayhawks had to be nearly perfect while playing with a depleted roster that was missing Carlton Bragg (indefinite suspension) and Udoka Azubuike (season-ending wrist surgery). Had Lucas' fouls come any earlier, not only might the result have been different, college basketball fans also might have gotten to witness the mismatch of the century.
Asked about Lucas after the game, Jackson said he really wasn't sure who would have guarded the 6-foot-10 Adebayo if Lucas would have been unavailable. Sitting one seat to his right, the smallest player on the court for most of the game decided he had the right answer.
"I would've guarded him," 5-11 guard Frank Mason quipped.
Lucky for KU, that was never the case.
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