Hunter Dickinson didn’t waste any time, and neither did Kansas basketball in its 99-56 win
LAWRENCE — Hunter Dickinson has yelled before inside Allen Fieldhouse.
There was Late Night in the Phog back in October. There was the exhibition game last week against Fort Hays State. Kansas basketball fans have seen, and if they were close enough, heard, their senior center showcase the emotion that can make his style of play so memorable.
But Monday, in Dickinson’s first regular-season game with the Jayhawks, the scream he let out early in the first half was different. The way he reacted after he hit a 3-pointer to put Kansas up 27-9 against North Carolina Central, it was clear he wasn’t going to be someone who changed the way he carried himself as he continued to adapt to a new program. Dickinson went on to finish with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists in a 99-56 win, and he played a little less than 24 minutes.
“Oh yeah, it was fun,” said Dickinson, who transferred in from Michigan ahead of the season. “I was telling somebody, like, ‘I’m used to the opposing fans being this loud and more boos than cheers.’ And so, it was real fun for me to have people on my side for once. And the atmosphere was insane. I’ve been hearing about it on my recruiting and when I committed here, and then ever since I’ve been here I’ve heard so much about Allen Fieldhouse and the fans and everything. And it lived up to it tonight.”
After a performance like that, it probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the North Carolina Central coach — LeVelle Moton — joked the first step in game-planning for Dickinson is to pray. Dickinson is someone Moton thinks will be a problem for everyone, not just his Eagles. Dickinson is someone who Moton noted can still beat you even if you’re in the right place at the right time, because Dickinson is still a 7-foot-2 and 260-pound mismatch physically.
Dickinson scored the game’s first seven points, and over the course of the evening only missed one shot. He finished 8-for-9 shooting from the field, 3-for-3 from behind the arc and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Had he played the kind of minutes one would expect him to during Big 12 Conference play, and been enjoying the success he was against North Carolina Central, it’s not out of the realm of possibility he has a double-double with 30-plus points and also nears a triple-double.
Sure, Kansas coach Bill Self would have liked to see Dickinson take more advantage of his size advantage against the Eagles. But, as Self acknowledged, the way Dickinson was hitting shots — especially from the perimeter — had something to do with that. And playing along side him, graduate senior guard Nicolas Timberlake had only positive things to say after the game.
“It makes the game so much easier,” said Timberlake, a transfer from Towson who finished with 13 points. “I mean, (Dickinson)’s getting all the attention. So, it just opens the floor up for everyone else. So, yeah, I mean just get the ball to him down low and he’s going to make a play — either a pass or an easy layup, dunk. So, I mean, it’s amazing seeing him do what he does and he’s living up to the hype I think this year.”
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Hunter Dickinson didn’t waste time, and neither did Kansas basketball
