Landen Lucas: Jayhawks proved they’re just as talented as hyped Terps

By Staff     Mar 25, 2016

Kansas junior forward Landen Lucas says the top-seeded Jayhawks entered their KFC Yum! Center locker room at halftime confident and calm Thursday night after a very competitive first half against Maryland in the Sweet 16.

“We knew that we hadn’t made our run yet, we hadn’t played our best basketball yet,” Lucas says, looking back at the midway point of what turned into a 79-63 victory for the Jayhawks, “and that’s a good feeling, to be up two, and not do that. And so we’ll take that any day of the week. We definitely capitalized on that in the second half. “

Although the Jayhawks entered their matchup with the Terrapins as the No. 1 seed in the South regional, Lucas says they were able to have somewhat of a chip on their shoulders. According to the junior forward, who scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while helping limit Terps freshman big Diamond Stone to 5 points and 4 boards, Kansas players saw a lot of chatter on social media about college basketball experts picking Maryland to send the Jayhawks home.

“Then, personally, with my matchup with Stone,” Lucas says, “my dad had called me before and just talked to me about some of the stuff people were saying. And, you know, yeah, I took it personally, because there was so much hype around him. And I just wanted to go out there and help our team get the win — it was goal number one. But it definitely was nice to, you know, hopefully prove to a lot of the people that we’re just as talented as those guys for sure.”

— See what people were saying about the Sweet 16 matchup between KU and Maryland during KUsports.com’s live coverage


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