NEW YORK — As the song New York, New York commands, start spreading the news. Kentucky has another quality team in the national sense of the term.

After Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski made history here Tuesday night, UK whipped No. 12 Kansas 75-65. Suffocating defense propelled the Cats to victory in the second game of the Champions Classic, a made-for-TV doubleheader featuring four of college basketball's top programs.

In the first game, Duke beat Michigan State to enable Krzyzewski to become the winningest coach in Division I history.

UK Coach John Calipari had said Monday that a close game might expose the precocious Cats.

A 13-2 run to open the second half postponed that concern for later this season. UK (2-0) broke from a 28-28 halftime tie to take its first double-digit lead inside the first five minutes after halftime. In that span, Kansas made only one of 10 shots en route to a 28.1-percent shooting half. Kentucky blocked five attempts.

Thereafter, Kansas did not get within single digits until the final 30 seconds.

"I thought our defense was half decent," said Calipari, who did not sound pleased with the game's ups (second half) and downs (first half). "It's nice to block shots."

Thomas Robinson, whom Kansas bills as a candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year, lost his composure with 6:11 left. In a rebound tug of war, he ran into Terrence Jones, who fell to the court. Then he stepped over the UK player.

Calipari came down from the other end of the court to play peacemaker, seemingly telling agitated freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to calm down.

Doron Lamb led a balanced UK attack with 17 points. Jones added 15, while freshman Anthony Davis had 14. Marquis Teague and Kidd-Gilchrist added 12 each.

Kansas (1-1) got 22 points from guard Tyshawn Taylor. Robinson struggled to score 11 and grabbed 12 rebounds. The teams were tied at halftime 28-28. That marked something of a triumph for Kentucky, which trailed much of the half and by as much as seven.

"We don't believe we truly have to play together yet," Calipari said. "It's not talent that wins."

Perhaps a sign of dependence on freshmen, turnovers hurt UK. The Cats committed 12 first-half turnovers, six by freshman point guard Teague.

Teague's poor half began with the public address announcer mispronouncing his first name during introductions ("Mar-KEES," he said). Teague finished the half with no assists and the six turnovers, thereby contributing mightily to Kentucky's assist-to-turnover ratio of 4-12.

Three of Kentucky's turnovers came on its first eight trips downcourt. Neither team scored until Jones posted up for a heavily contested shot to put the Cats ahead 2-0 with 17:57 left.

"We're not a good team yet," Calipari said. "(The Cats) broke off every play. What I have to start doing, you break off a play, you're coming out. ... Everybody walked into that game today; they were going to do their own thing."

Kansas took the initiative thereafter, taking a 10-3 lead.

Kentucky inched ahead 11-10 on Kidd-Gilchrist's fast-break layup with 11:39 left.

Conner Teahan gave Kansas a much-needed boost with two three-pointers from the left corner. Neither was a surprise for a senior who made seven of 10 three-point shots during exhibition play and three of four in the opener against Towson.

Travis Releford's dunk — one of six for the Jayhawks in the half — put Kansas ahead 21-14 with 7:43 left.

Kentucky called time and went to Jones, who hadn't scored since the game's first basket. He responded with seven points down the stretch. His rainbow three-pointer with two minutes left tied it at 26.

With Davis dunking twice (his third and fourth jams of the game), UK took its largest lead early in the second half. A 34-30 UK lead prompted a Kansas timeout at the 18:13 mark.

That didn't slow down UK. After Kansas missed a forced shot, Jones sped to a fast-break dunk. A block of Robinson's post-up caused Teague to break into a wide smile and clap happily. After UK blocked Teahan's leaner, Teague had more reason to smile as he hit a three-pointer (his first basket) to put the Cats ahead 39-30.

That prompted another Kansas timeout with 17:15 left.

Kansas went scoreless on its next four possessions (including two UK blocks). A Davis tip-in made the lead 41-30, completing a 13-2 Kentucky run to open the second half.

Lamb, coming up big in his homecoming, made sure there was no Kansas rally. He made three three-pointers in barely two minutes. The third put Kentucky ahead 54-37 with 10:16 left.

When Darius Miller hit a three-pointer a moment later, filmmaker Spike Lee got up from his end-line seat and departed. No drama here.