Lost in the wreckage of Orlando was the fact that junior center Kenny Lawson was showing marked improvement in each of the three games. His performance against Iona would have been a nice story had the Jays won. But after they lost and limped home 0-3 on the trip, finding glimmers of positivity in individual performances was not a cause deemed worthy of time consumption by most fans, myself included.
On Sunday, Lawson had the sort of game that was impossible to ignore, the sort of game that win or lose, would make you sit up and take notice. In 28 minutes, he had 25 points, 10 rebounds and was a dominating force in the paint against a bigger team. Regardless of your opinion of Nebraska’s collection of centers (I’m not impressed, personally, but your mileage may vary), it was an eye-opening stat line. Lawson hasn’t approached those kinds of numbers against ANY opponent in his collegiate career, not even against the Houston Baptists and Arkansas Pine Bluffs of the world.
It was more than just stats — although his first career double-double was certainly impressive. His demeanor on the court was nothing short of a revelation. He was fighting in traffic for rebounds. He was talking to his teammates and instructing them on where to be defensively. He was attacking the rim and drawing fouls, then sinking the free throws (11-12 from the line). He even anticipated a pass, stuck his arm into the passing lane, stole the ball and tried to go coast-to-coast for a dunk.
Because of the wreckage of Orlando, it may have seemed like this game came out of nowhere, that there’s a danger of it being a one-off performance. In reality, Lawson was building up to it under-the-radar, with a game against Michigan that was solid (one rebound shy of his first double-double), a decent game against Xavier and a game against Iona where he quietly earned praise for battling hard and attempting to will the Jays to victory.
In the postgame press conference, Dana Altman said that Kenny was really angry after the team’s performance in Orlando, that he took it personally and had been on his teammates all week. Gee, you think? On Sunday, Lawson did in fact will the Jays to victory, absolutely devastating the Huskers with a legendary second-half in which he went for 17 and 7.
It reminded me of a December 2005 game against Xavier, where a previously OK-but-not-spectacular Jays center had a breakout performance in a big game and never looked back. That player was Anthony Tolliver, and his 26 point 10 rebound game was similarly impressive, and similarly seemed to come out of nowhere. We know how the story ended with Tolliver: all-MVC, a legacy as one of CU’s all-timers and a career playing professionally. Is this the beginning of great things for Lawson?
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Stellar halftime adjustments by the Jays. In the first half, it was obvious Doc Sadler was scheming to take away the three-pointer and make Creighton beat them inside. So after the break, Creighton packed it inside and let the big man do work. That Kenny not only delivered but excelled would no doubt come as a shock to many people. It did to me. Its awesome to see him improving like this.
Can you remember the last time Creighton only attempted 10 threes in a game? Or the last time they only made one? Did they win either of those games?
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A ridiculous attempt at humor in the World-Herald called Fan Vs Fan attempted to make fun of the stereotypes of both Nebraska and Creighton fans. Coming from a former writer for the eternally unfunny Jay Leno, it of course fell flat. One of the categories was “Favorite sign to wave at games.” For Nebraska, the answer was “Mom, send money.” For Creighton, it said “Mom, send new Platinum card.” I would have emailed the author to ask how exactly one goes about tying a sweater around one’s waist, but I was too busy not laughing.
Of course, one industrious student held up a sign that said — you guessed it — “Mom, send new Platinum card.” Now THAT’S funny.
I think it would have been funnier to hold up sign that said “How long does it take to make a Husker cry? One second.” But that would be cold, insensitive and mean-spirited so on second thought…
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Welcome back, Dance Cam. Even if it was just a “special edition”, I thoroughly enjoyed its return. And I promise to ease up on the griping about it going away this season. Promise.
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Before the game, I went for a few brews at a certain downtown bar & grill like I always do. Ran into, of all people, Bob Harstad, the all-time leading scorer in school history in the Non-Rodney-Buford category. There were also a fair number of Husker fans, some of which were a bit prickly over the football game the night before. Hard to say which was more fun to interact with…
On our way into the arena, my buddy asked me if I’d ever had Husker fans infiltrate our section at one of these games. The only time I can remember some Red sneaking into my portion of section 113 was for the NIT game in 2004. So, of course, not five minutes after we sat down, a group of six Husker fans pile into the row behind us. I said to my buddy, “Well, there’s a first time for everything.”
Memo to Husker fans: Suh plays football. It doesn’t make any sense to yell SUUUHHH at a basketball game. Thanks.
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With the team back in the winning side of the ledger, its time to give out another Polyfro Gameball (because as always, I do not hand out game balls in losses.) Sometimes, I buck the trend and go with a guy whose performance merited recognition even though his stats may not have been the flashiest. And sometimes, a player has such an awesome game that there can be no doubt. Today is one of those days. Kenny Lawson, he of the 25 points, 10 rebounds and his first career double-double, gets the game ball. You bet.