Stephen Vinson made a dream come true on Thursday. And it ended up giving him a whole lot of grief.

The freshman walk-on from Lawrence High drained his first bucket of the basketball season in Kansas University’s 102-50 victory over North Carolina Asheville on Thursday at Allen Fieldhouse.

After knocking down the three-pointer from the corner late in the second half, Vinson let his emotions take over. He pumped his fist in excitement, sprinted to the other end of the court and flashed a smile that likely won’t wear off for months.

It made for an entertaining conclusion to an otherwise lopsided game.

“I thought he was going to stop and take a bow,” KU coach Roy Williams said.

Not quite, but few could blame him if he did. Vinson had missed his first six attempts of the season, including four from behind the arc.

Thursday’s swish came as quite a relief for Vinson; the sellout crowd erupted in a deafening ovation.

Afterwards, several of Vinson’s teammates, including Aaron Miles and Wayne Simien, did their best to mock Vinson’s celebration.

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“I think there was seven or eight impressions,” Vinson said.

Vinson scored again on an uncontested layup to give him five points on the night. Fellow walk-ons Brett Olson and Christian Moody also got in on the action, scoring two points apiece. Olson’s came on a two-handed dunk, after previously airballing a three-point attempt.

“I know what those airballs are like,” Vinson said with a laugh. “I felt really good for him that he could get that dunk. I didn’t think he was going to get high enough. Good thing we’ve got breakaway rims.”

The traditionally fan-favorite walk-ons gave the audience something to cheer about on Thursday. For a crowd that was rowdy much of the night, the decibel level likely reached its peak with a minute to play and KU up by 50.

“Sometimes we get a little sloppy out there,” Vinson said. “Usually we only get a couple of possessions. It was fun because everybody got into it and everybody got some touches and everybody scored.”