A double-double machine his sophomore year at Memphis, Dedric Lawson didn’t disappoint on Thursday night in his long-awaited Kansas basketball debut.
Lawson scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the first half and finished with 31 points and 15 rebounds in 23 minutes as the Jayhawks coasted to a somewhat sloppy 93-55 victory over Division II Emporia State at Allen Fieldhouse.
Lawson, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound junior power forward — who recorded a whopping 19 double-doubles in 2016-17, then practiced but did not play in games last season at KU — made 11 of 16 shots overall on Thursday.