After tough win against Iowa State, KU guard Gradey Dick earns family bragging rights
Kansas forward Gradey Dick loves to walk around his mother’s house and scoff at the Iowa State memorabilia.
Dick’s mom, Carmen, played basketball for Iowa State from 1986-89.
So naturally, the Dick family group chat was buzzing nonstop with notifications heading into the Jayhawks’ showdown against the Cyclones on Saturday.
“It’s a bunch of memes going back and forth between the family members,” Dick said after the game. “It’s not as big as … you would think. ‘No offense, mom, it was way back then.’”
Dick played a key role in KU’s 62-60 victory over Iowa State on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
The guard scored 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor and also grabbed five rebounds in 31 minutes.
Though his mom played a while ago, Dick is happy to come away with bragging rights.
“It was a good win today, and I kind of rubbed it in her face,” Dick said.
The Cyclones made it an emphasis to make Dick uncomfortable from the start of the game. They face-guarded Dick and ran him off the three-point line.
The strategy worked at the beginning of the game; Dick missed his first three shots and looked visibly uncomfortable.
Slowly, Dick began to find his groove.
On one sequence, KU forward KJ Adams drove into the paint, drew multiple Iowa State defenders and found a wide-open Dick in the corner. Dick quickly canned his first three before the Cyclone defender could recover and properly contest the shot. His shot gave Kansas a 12-5 lead with 14:28 left in the first.
“I do think he got off to a bad start today and then, after he saw the first one go down, I thought he was great,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
The second half is where Dick made his mark. Dick shot 3-for-5 on three-pointers and hit multiple momentum-shifting buckets.
Every time Iowa State hit a big shot, Dick answered. Dick hit two back-to-back threes in the span of 1:25 of game time.
Dick showed off his NBA range and quick trigger at the 12:52 mark in the second half. KU guard Dajuan Harris passed the ball to Dick, who stood on the right side and canned the three between two defenders. It made the game 41-41.
For a good majority of players in college basketball, the basket to tie the game at 41 would’ve been a bad shot — but not for Dick. His quick trigger, high release point and ability to move off-ball make him difficult to guard.
“It’s great (having Dick),” KU guard Jalen Wilson said. “Especially when we’re getting downhill and basically don’t have anywhere else to go. … He somehow finds a way to get open and get a shot up. It’s so quick, and the shot is so high that you’re not going to block it.
“We are confident in him shooting any of those shots, and he hit some big ones today.”
This season, Iowa State and other teams have game-planned to stop Dick at all costs. In turn, it’s created more space for his teammates, such as Adams, to either score or create offense.
“They were kind of running me off the three,” Dick said. “When they do that, it’s easier for other guys to get open.”
Ultimately, Dick’s tough shot-making helped the Jayhawks hang on against the Cyclones.
“He made some unbelievable (shots),” Self said. “We’re down three and he makes a three. We’re down three; he makes a three. … He was really good.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2023 at 8:18 PM with the headline "After tough win against Iowa State, KU guard Gradey Dick earns family bragging rights."
