Make no mistake about it – Kansas University’s 113-61 lopsided victory over Division II foe Emporia State was important in the eyes of KU coach Roy Williams.

With ranked opponents swamping KU’s nonconference schedule, an inferior squad like ESU gave KU’s bench a chance to answer the questions surrounding it.

“The bench role is much more important now that we know what we need to do,” forward Jeff Graves said. “The expectations are real high.”

It’s an expectation that Williams has stated over and over: help the team simply by not hurting it.

On Saturday, Graves scored just six points, but pulled down seven rebounds, three of them on offense. Freshman Jeff Hawkins also had six points, but more importantly, had zero turnovers, a steal and a blocked shot in 15 minutes of play.

It was a significantly higher amount of time for Hawkins, who didn’t play in Wednesday’s victory over Tulsa, and had just one minute last Saturday at Oregon.

Still, Hawkins claimed he wasn’t worried about making a big impression.

“I didn’t feel any pressure,” he said. “I just knew that I had to stay focused. I can’t be worried that I didn’t play last game.”

All six of Hawkins’ points came in the second half, three of them on his first three-pointer of the season. He had missed his previous six attempts before finally connecting.

“I saw that he was backing off of me,” Hawkins said. “I was kind of scared to take it. But I felt good about it, and pulled up and it went in.”

Graves, meanwhile, did experience some newcomer blues. He committed three turnovers, and was just 2-of-5 from the floor in 12 minutes of action.

But Graves still had season-highs in both points (six) and rebounds (seven), and sunk both free-throw attempts he took. He’s shooting 75 percent from the free-throw line this season.

“Knowing the team is behind me 100 percent now and being back in the shape I was,” Graves said, “the confidence is coming back more and more.”

KU returns to action next Saturday against UCLA in a tough nonconference match. The reserves aren’t likely to see as many minutes, but now they know what to do with the action they do see.

“I’m realizing my role,” Hawkins said. “Go in, play defense, and do things that will help us by not hurting us.

“I understand what that means now.”