Top-ranked Kansas holds off Villanova, 74-71

Guard Lagerald Vick scored 29 points and forward Dedric Lawson had 28 and 12 rebounds on Saturday, as the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks held off defending NCAA champion Villanova, 74-71.

An announced crowd of 16,300 at Allen Fieldhouse watched as freshman guard Devon Dotson scored six points in the final 2:25 for the Jayhawks.

For 17th-ranked Villanova, Phil Booth scored 29 and Eric Paschall produced 17.

The game was a rematch of sorts of the 2018 NCAA semifinals, in which the Wildcats routed the Jayhakws 95-79 at the Alamodome on the way to their second national title in three years.

Records

Kansas 9-0
Villanova 8-4

Notable

Kansas has notched victories this season against four teams in this week’s AP Top 25, including No. 3 Tennessee, (9) Michigan State, (17) Villanova and (21) Marquette.

Dedric Lawson, a transfer from Memphis, is on fire. He has posted six straight games of 20 or more points. Also, he has produced six games this season of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 1 Villanova loses Phil Booth indefinitely with hand injury

An examination Wednesday revealed that redshirt junior guard Phil Booth suffered a fractured bone in his right (shooting) hand during the second half of top-ranked Villanova’s 89-69 win over Providence on Tuesday night.

According to a news release from Villanova, the injury will sideline Booth – who missed all but three games of the 2016-17 season due to a knee injury – indefinitely.

Booth ranks second in the Big East to teammate Jalen Brunson in assist-to-turnover ratio (64 assists, 26 turnovers, 2.5 ratio) and averages 11.6 points per game.

He has started all 20 games for the Wildcats, averaging 28.3 minutes per outing. He is 40-of-93 from beyond the 3-point arc (.430).

The Wildcats travel to Milwaukee to meet Marquette Sunday at 1 p.m.

Booth emerged in the national spotlight two years ago in Houston when he scored 20 points in 25 minutes off the bench in Villanova’s 77-74, NCAA championship-clinching victory over North Carolina.