Villanova-Kansas Final 4 rematch today

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Dedric Lawson was turning his attention from a harder-than-expected win over New Mexico State to studying for finals when he looked at his cellphone and saw Devonte Graham’s name pop up.

His old teammate, and now a member of the Charlotte Hornets, was calling with a pep talk.

“He saw we were struggling against New Mexico State,” Lawson recalled, “and he said, ‘Don’t even worry about that. You just win on Saturday for me.’”

That’s when top-ranked Kansas gets its rematch with Villanova.

It was the Wildcats who knocked the Jayhawks out of the Final Four last season, ending Graham’s college career with a wire-to-wire drubbing at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Villanova would proceed to rout Michigan to win coach Jay Wright’s second national championship in the past three years.

“Games like this are why you come to Kansas,” said Lawson, who transferred along with his brother K.J. from Memphis. “They don’t have the same caliber players as last year but it’s still Villanova.”

There are indeed plenty of differences in the rematch.

For starters, the game will be played in the quaintly raucous confines of Allen Fieldhouse rather than a cavernous, neutral-site dome. The morning tipoff means daylight will be flooding the court from the windows in each end zone, rather than artificial lighting suspended high over the court.

“Believe it or not, we enjoy it,” Wright said of the intimidating environment. “We talk about this all the time. We love going on the road, being together. Just us. It makes it simple.”

The game could go a long way toward NCAA Tournament seeding, and it matters where bragging rights are concerned, but otherwise it means very little in the grand scheme of things.

Other than to guys like Graham, who are still smarting from their defeat in April.

“You’ve got to take it personal,” said Kansas forward Mitch Lightfoot, who played in that national semifinal game, “but you also have to understand it’s a game. You have to prepare the same way.”

The Wildcats (8-3) have taken some lumps, getting blown out by Michigan before an overtime loss to Furman in November. They also lost a Big 5 game to Penn on Tuesday night at the Palestra.

Not that anything that happened earlier this season should have an impact on what happens today.

Or anything that happened in April, for that matter.