Field Level Media
Nov 12, 2018
Guard Lagerald Vick made all eight of his 3-point attempts and scored a career-high 32 points, and junior center Udoka Azubuike added a double-double Monday as No. 2 Kansas toppled Vermont 84-68 at Lawrence, Kan.
Vick, the team's lone senior, wanted to turn pro after last season but changed his mind and was allowed to return. He made his first five shots Monday and finished 12-of-14.
His 3-point shooting was the most makes from behind the arc without a miss for a Kansas player. Previously, Rex Walters and Ben McLemore went 6-for-6.
Vick's early outburst helped Kansas keep pace after trailing by eight points just four minutes into the game. Vermont (1-1) maintained the lead most of the first half.
Earlier on Monday, the preseason No. 1 Jayhawks were overtaken by Duke in the polls.
Azubuike scored 23 points on 10-for-17 shooting and added 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Quentin Grimes finished with 10 points and 10 assists.
Junior forward Anthony Lamb, who posted a double-double in Vermont's opener, scored 24 points. Senior guard Ernie Duncan added 17 points, and sophomore guard Stef Smith had 13 points and eight boards.
Vermont led for more than three-quarters of the first half, but Kansas ended the half with seven unanswered points and led 40-36 at the break.
Vick went 4-for-4 from 3-point range and netted 16 first-half points. Azubuike added 12 points and six rebounds, though another starter, forward Dedric Lawson, went scoreless while logging just seven minutes because of foul trouble.
The Catamounts used a 16-2 run to grab their early eight-point lead. Lamb, Smith and Duncan each finished the half in double figures for the reigning American East regular-season champions.
The game constituted an on-campus round of the Preseason NIT, an event Kansas will play in during Thanksgiving week in New York. The victory was the Jayhawks' 46th in a row in regular-season home openers, a streak that dates to the 1973-74 season.
--Field Level Media