LAWRENCE, Kan. _ A who's who of Kansas basketball returned to Allen Fieldhouse for Saturday's Big 12 contest against West Virginia.
Former KU players Nick Collison, Jacque Vaughn, Scot Pollard, Wayne Simien, Alonzo Jamison, Kevin Young, Christian Moody, Jeff Hawkins, Tyrel Reed, Devonte Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk and Malik Newman certainly had a fine time sitting behind the KU bench (and getting introduced to the fans at halftime) during the Jayhawks' 78-53 blowout of the Mountaineers.
K.J. Lawson scored 15 points, his most as a KU player, and brother Dedric Lawson added 14 points and four rebounds as the Jayhawks (20-6, 9-4 in the Big 12) gained revenge on the Mountaineers (10-15, 2-10) for their one-point victory over KU on Jan. 19 in Morgantown, W.Va.
Devon Dotson contributed 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Ochai Agbaji had 10 points for KU, which won its 20th game Saturday for the 30th consecutive season.
KU is now one 20-victory season away from tying the all-time NCAA record of 31 straight by North Carolina (1971-2001).
Also, David McCormack scored 10 points and had four rebounds for the Jayhawks. Lamont West had 11 points for West Virginia.
KU kept veteran coach Bob Huggins from claiming his first victory at Allen Fieldhouse. The Huggins-led Mountaineers are 0-7 in Allen over the past seven campaigns. Huggins also lost a game at Allen in his one season as coach of Kansas State.
KU hit 52.8 percent of its shots (including 8 of 20 from 3) in winning its 19th consecutive game at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks are 14-0 in their own building this season. West Virginia hit 3 of 23 3-pointers and 33.9 percent overall.
Kansas State lost at home to Iowa State on Saturday, giving KSU a 9-3 record in the league. KU and Texas Tech are 9-4, Iowa State 8-4 and Baylor 7-5.
Dotson scored 13 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished three assists in 18 minutes as KU led 43-16 at halftime. Dedric Lawson had nine points and two boards in 18 minutes and K.J. Lawson seven points and a board in 10 minutes.
McCormack, who started his third straight game, had two blocks and three boards to go with four points in nine minutes the first half. Mitch Lightfoot had one block.
West Virginia had nobody score more than four points the first half. WVU hit 7 of 28 shots (.250) and was 1 of 10 from 3. KU hit 4 of 10 3s and 14 of 25 shots overall for 56 percent.
KU used runs of 11-0 and 21-2 to turn an early 7-6 deficit into a 27-9 lead with 6:10 left in the half. Dedric Lawson had seven points, Dotson four in the surge.
The Mountaineers were without former starters Esa Ahmad and Wesley Harris who were removed from the team recently for a violation of athletic department policies. The two combined for 13 points and eight rebounds versus KU in the first meeting. KU was without Marcus Garrett (ankle injury) for a fifth straight game and Lagerald Vick (indefinite leave of absence) a third straight game.
