LAWRENCE, Kan. _ Kansas gained a bit of revenge on a modern-day nemesis Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
The No. 1-ranked Jayhawks (9-0), who fell to No. 17 Villanova (8-4) in the 2018 Final Four semifinals and 2016 Elite Eight, knocked off the Wildcats, 74-71, before a crowd of 16,300 that included Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and baseball Hall of Famer George Brett, who sat a few rows behind the KU bench.
Lagerald Vick scored 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Dedric Lawson contributed 28 points and 12 rebounds and Devon Dotson chipped in 11 points as the Jayhawks snapped a three-game losing streak to Villanova and tied the all-time series against the Wildcats, 4-4.
Phil Booth had 29 points, Eric Paschall 17 and Collin Gillespie 15 for Villanova, which hit 8 of 28 3s Saturday (and 40.7 percent overall) after making 18 of 40 versus the Jayhawks in a 95-79 Final Four semifinal win over KU on March 31 in San Antonio.
The Jayhawks were 5 of 15 from 3 (23 of 30 from the line) and 50 percent overall.
Villanova led this one, 56-55, on a basket by Booth at 5:31.
At that point, KU scored six straight to go up, 61-56, at 3:38. Lawson scored inside, Vick hit a jumper and Lawson scored again at 3:38.
KU increased the run to 10-2 and led, 65-58, at 1:10. Dotson hit a layup and two free throws for the four additional points and the seven-point lead.
Booth slammed at 1:00 to cut the gap back to five. Vick hit two free throws to get the lead to 67-60 at :50.2 After Nova scored, Dotson went to the line with the score 67-62. He made two free throws to make it 69-62 at :37.2. Gillespie scored at :31.3 and was fouled by Lawson. He converted the free throw and KU led, 69-65, at :31.3. Vick hit two free throws at :26.4 to make it 71-65. Booth hit a 3 at :22 and it was 71-68.
Lawson converted one of two free throws at :19.2 and KU held a 72-68 advantage. Booth scored at :8.5 seconds to make it 72-70.
KU then inbounded to Lawson who was fouled at :7.5. Lawson hit two free throws to make 74-70.
Nova's Gillespie went to the line at 1.9 seconds. He hit the first free throw to make it 74-71 and purposely missed the second free throw. Nova's Saddiq Bey chased the rebound but fell out of bounds with under one second left. KU's Marcus Garrett inbounded to Dotson and KU won by 3.
KU won its 39th straight game in the field house when ranked No. 1 in the land. KU is 21-0 in Allen when ranked No. 1 in the 16-year Bill Self era. Self improved his personal record to 3-4 versus Nova coach Jay Wright.
The Jayhawks squandered a nine-point lead (29-20) late in the first half and led by just two points (33-31) at halftime.
Lawson had 14 points and Vick 10 for KU, which hit 11 of 22 shots the first half and was 4 of 11 from 3. Villanova hit 10 of 26 first-half shots and was 5 of 13 from 3.
Dotson scored five points and Vick three as KU led, 8-1, two minutes into the game. Paschall scored seven points and Saddiq Bey five in a 12-0 run that gave Nova a 13-8 advantage at 14:31.
Lawson scored eight points and Vick three in an 11-0 run that put KU ahead, 19-13, 8:22. KU led, 29-20, at 2:40. However, Villanova tied the score at 31-31 with 6.1 seconds left. Charlie Moore's two free throws gave the Jayhawks the halftime lead.
KU will next meet South Dakota at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
