Dick Nearly Sets Record as Kansas Closes Out 80-74 Win Over NC State
Gradey Dick was feeling right at home in Paradise (Island, Bahamas) in the first half of Wednesday’s game against NC State. The Kansas freshman kicked off his time at the Battle 4 Atlantis on fire, hitting six first-half threes on his way to 25 points in the game. The mark was one off the KU school record of seven threes in a half set by Jeff Boschee in 2000.
The combination of Dick on offense and Dajuan Harris on defense kept Kansas afloat in the first half when not much else was working. KJ Adams was the one to get the Jayhawks on the board early, but KU struggled to get the ball and finish inside early. Instead, as the Jayhawks and Wolfpack traded body blows, it was the 3-point line that proved huge for KU. Along with Dick, Kevin McCullar and Jalen WIlson hit 3s as the shot clock ran down, and even Harris got in on the action as KU went 9-14 from behind the arc in the first half.
Harris’ three made it 33-27 Kansas, its largest lead of the game at that point. But the Wolfpack weren’t done yet. NCSU cut it to two before KU answered in the last two minutes of the half. Harris picked off a cross-court pass and found Adams for an easy basket. Then, Harris took a charge and Dick hit a three as the half expired to make it 39-31.
Credit to NC State, the Wolfpack had plenty of fight. NCSU started the second half on a 8-0 run to tie it at 39. Kansas again got separation with help from the free-throw line. An amazing save by McCullar led to an Ernest Udeh layup and then NC State coach Kevin Keatts was T’d up. Dick hit both free throws and then he was fouled on a three and hit all three of those. Still, NCSU made tough shots to keep it close, closing the gap to 58-53.
Kansas was much more aggressive in the second half, getting to the free-throw line at a rapid pace. But so were the Wolfpack. And they were efficient. At the under-eight timeout, NC State was a perfect 12-12 from the line while KU was 15-19. Two more free throws from NCSU tied the game at 61. But the efficiency wouldn’t last for the Wolfpack.
The small guys made big plays in the next four minutes. Bobby Pettiford and Adams grabbed big offensive boards and made hustle plays to keep possessions alive before Harris went to work in the paint, finishing around the Wolfpack’s post players.
Terquavion Smith missed NCSU’s first free-throw with 3:32 left to keep the lead at 71-68 KU, and then Wilson drove to the basket and was fouled, but could only hit one to keep it a two-possession game. Then DJ Burns for the Wolfpack missed two free-throws and Dick made them pay with a reverse layup.
The KU defense clamped down at the end of the game. NC State scored its second-to-last field goal with 4:26 left in the game for its 67th point and didn’t make another basket until a three pointer at the buzzer. Despite coming into the game hitting just 56% of its free throws, Kansas went 22-29 from the line against the Wolfpack.
Dick led all scorers with 25—he did not hit another three in the second half—while Wilson again notched a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Harris was spectacular again, scoring 14 points to go with six assists and three steals. McCullar rounded out the scoring with 10 points and he also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Kansas will face the winner of Dayton and Wisconsin tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT.
