12 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 assists...

...and an UNLIMITED supply of heart, guts, passion, fire, energy, smarts, and toughness.

LANDEN, you were a BEAST tonight! Selden had the Sports Center highlights and a great game. Ellis was outstanding. But that game was won first and foremost in the trenches, just like a great football win!

Rock Chalk...

Go back and watch the big Devonte three right before Selden's highlight dunk. As Devonte's three starts descending toward the rim, watch the lower left part of the TV frame. You'll see Landen come FLYING in from outside the screen, and totally sealing off the 7-foot UConn big for what would've been a perfectly boxed-out rebound.

It was indicative of his game all night. That stuff doesn't show up in the box score, but he was doing that ALL NIGHT LONG. And if you go back and read the LJW articles heading into this game, particularly Bedore's on KU wanting to get over the 2nd round albatross from the prior two years, it was Lucas speaking the loudest about how they needed to get it done. He came on a mission tonight, and he was joined nicely by his band of brothers.

Just super impressive stuff...

From the Star article I posted last night (Vahe Gregorian):

Lucas, who set the tone by blocking UConn’s first shot, had 12 rebounds as KU outdid the Huskies 44-24 on the boards.

And his mentality explains something about the difference in the core collective personality of this group.

“I prefer rebounds (to points) by far,” said Lucas, who scored six points, “Point for most people are rebounds for me.”

Takeaway: Any scoring we get from Landen--on top of his glass cleaning, rim protection, sterling D, exquisite screens and spacing, and superb support to Ellis and our wing scorers on offense--is pure gravy. Or the cherry on top of a very delectable dessert.

Keep it going, Landen!