Kentucky’s ‘bigs’ outnumber and overpower Kansas in SEC/Big 12 showdown

Two isn’t necessarily better than one all the time. But it was in a “bigs” way Saturday night in Rupp Arena.

As expected, Kentucky’s depth in the post impacted the game against Kansas. With PJ Washington and Reid Travis contributing double-doubles, UK won 71-63.

Kansas Coach Bill Self conceded his team’s lack of “bigs” in a colorful and memorable way. “We’re light in the butt,” he said.

Travis scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. That marked his second double-double of the season.

Washington added 20 points and 13 rebounds.

“PJ had a spirit about him,” UK Coach John Calipari said. “He had a confidence about him. … There was no tentativeness to how he played. I’ve been waiting for a year and a half for that.”.

Washington suggested the reason for this newfound spirit was no mystery.

“Playing Kansas in Rupp,” he said. “They’re a great team, a top-10 team. …

“I just came out aggressive. I came out wanting to win the game. I just came out wanting to make plays the whole 40 minutes.”

Dedric Lawson, who had little help battling Washington and Travis, scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to post his fifth double-double in the last eight games and 14th of the season.

The two-versus-one dynamic contributed to a 38-20 UK advantage in points from the paint and a 49-36 rebounding edge.

When told of Self’s light-in-the-butt assessment, Washington said, “Yeah. We felt we definitely had a mismatch down low. … We knew Lawson did not want to foul. We just tried to kill them on the glass and make easy baskets.”

In a competition featuring two teams ranked in the top 10, No. 8 Kentucky improved its record to 16-3. No. 9 Kansas fell to 16-4.

Because Kansas lost its center, Udoka Azubuike, to injury, Kentucky was expected to enjoy an advantage around the basket. “I like our chances,” Travis said on Friday.

Travis said it was “exhausting” for any “big” to battle multiple defenders.

That seemed to be the case as Lawson labored to make seven of 18 shots.

“They’ve got a guy they ride a lot,” Travis said of Lawson, “and they should. He’s a talented player. We knew if we could bring waves at him, offensively and defensive, we were really confident with four ‘bigs’ that we have, I felt that really played in our favor.”

For only the fourth time this season, Kentucky trailed at halftime. Kansas led 33-30 at the break.

By halftime, Lawson already had 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Jayhawks led for 14-plus minutes before the break.

On the ESPN College GameDay show earlier in the day, Calipari said he wanted to see a seamless victory. “Consistency,” he said. “And we’ve got to get to where we can play for 40 minutes. … Two or three guys disengage, don’t compete.”

Another slow start put Kentucky in comeback mode. The Cats made only three of their first 19 shots.

Kansas led 16-6 barely minutes into the game.

Travis steadied Kentucky and led the charge. The first of his four and-ones in the first half began the turnaround.

The Cats got as close as 23-21 in the latter stages of the half.

Kentucky seemed intent on using his depth advantage inside. The Cats went to Travis in the low post on their first possession. But, oddly, Travis got only one shot (a putback) in the next 10 minutes.

Remembering Travis, and his four offensive rebounds made up for UK’s 13-for-39 shooting in the first half. The Cats missed all eight of their three-point shots.

Kansas was not much better. The Jayhawks made 13 of 36 shots (three of 10 on threes) in the first half.

A corner three-pointer by Johnson put UK ahead 35-33 with 18:46 left. The first three-pointer after nine misses gave Kentucky its first lead since 6-4.

A putback by Travis expanded the lead to 41-37. That was UK’s largest lead to that point and prompted a Kansas timeout with 16:12 left.

A murmur filled Rupp Arena when Travis picked up his third foul and went to the bench with 15:31 left. He was called for charging in the post.

But another three-pointer by Johnson expanded UK’s lead to 50-44. Again Kansas called timeout, this time with 11:28 left.

Kentucky seemed on the verge of a double-digit lead with less than five minutes left. Hagans’ third steal of the night came with UK ahead 57-49.

A turnover trying to feed the post blunted the chances of a 10-point lead.

Perhaps Lawson’s frustration helped Kentucky get a double-digit lead. He was called for a flagrant foul with 2:23 left. Two Travis free throws put UK ahead 64-54.

Next game

No. 8 Kentucky at Vanderbilt

9 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN)

This story was originally published January 26, 2019 at 9:58 PM.