Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

No. 11 Kansas earns dominant home win over No. 16 Texas Tech

NIT Season Tip-Off

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: Lagerald Vick #24 and teammate Dedric Lawson #1 of the Kansas Jayhawks smile after receiving awards after Kansas’ 87-81 win over Tennessee Volunteers at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Kansas made it look easy during a crucial Big 12 home game on Saturday afternoon as they built a first-half double-digit lead and cruised to victory, 79-63, over No. 16 Texas Tech.

After the No. 11 Jayhawks fell at Texas earlier this week for a two-game losing streak -- with CBT’s own Rob Dauster examining all of their issues this season earlier this week, it looked like the Big 12 would potentially be wide open.

We were given some important reminders of why the Big 12 title likely continues to go through Lawrence for a few reasons.

For one, Kansas has the best home court advantage in the league -- if not the country. It’s national news anytime the Jayhawks lose in the Phog, and even if Kansas has struggled to secure road wins in the Big 12, they’re going to be next to impossible to beat at home.

Any team that makes a serious move in the Big 12 is going to have to be nearly flawless at home while hoping that the Jayhawks continue the road woes. Because multiple home losses for Kansas look unlikely at this point.

It also helps the Jayhawks that junior forward Dedric Lawson continues to look like an All-American after another huge outing on Saturday. Lawson finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds on 9-for-14 shooting and 3-for-3 from three-point range as he looked unstoppable at times against the Red Raiders.

The rest of the Kansas roster might be up-and-down -- particularly the backcourt of young players like Devon Dotson (20 points) and Quentin Grimes (six points) -- but they can at least know that Lawson is likely going to produce double-double numbers while commanding double teams. As long as others like Dotson can continue to step up some nights and provide secondary scoring, Kansas should be able to win on most nights.

There is still plenty of time in the Big 12 race for injuries to occur and things to change again. But Kansas is going to be in the mix until the end as they remain the favorite as long as Lawson plays this well and they can improve on he road.