Bill Self’s assessment of Kentucky: ‘That team that we played tonight could win it all.’
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Game day: Kentucky 80, Kansas 62
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge game between Kentucky and Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.
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Just a few minutes after what had to have been a shocking result on his home court, Kansas Coach Bill Self spent more time highlighting the capabilities of this Kentucky basketball team than he did the shortcomings of his No. 5-ranked Jayhawks.
UK had just defeated Kansas 80-62, handing the Jayhawks their first loss of the season at Allen Fieldhouse, which featured a frenzied crowd and hosted the ESPN “College GameDay” crew for the blue-blood battle Saturday night.
“That was a great basketball team we played tonight,” Self said on his postgame radio show. “We weren’t very good at all. But I’m not sure how good we could be to keep them from being that great — they were terrific. That team that we played tonight could win it all.
“I know we contributed to their playing well, but they were dominant. They were athletic. They shot it. They were unselfish. They were mature, focused, didn’t celebrate after one basket. They got back and guarded, made us uncomfortable. And when we got behind, the rims shrunk, obviously, and we didn’t do anything to get back in it.”
No. 12 Kentucky — five-point underdogs Saturday night — built a double-digit lead before the midway point of the first half, and the result was never in much doubt from there. The Cats led by 20 points at halftime, and that lead never got tighter than 14 points in the second half.
Self touted the Wildcats as possible national title contenders following the game, and this victory — an 18-point win on the road against a top-five team — will be a big one for Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament seeding process.
UK is now 17-4 (6-2 in the Southeastern Conference) this season, and the Cats have several other opportunities to add major victories to their tournament résumé, starting with a game next weekend at Alabama, which defeated No. 4 Baylor on Saturday. The Wildcats entered the day at No. 9 in the NCAA’s NET Rankings.
Kentucky was also playing at full strength, and the Wildcats have been mighty impressive in recent weeks when that has been the case. UK guard TyTy Washington returned from the ankle injury he suffered in last weekend’s loss to now-No. 1 Auburn, and both of the Cats’ losses in the past six weeks have come when Washington and fellow point guard Sahvir Wheeler missed time while injured.
In Kentucky’s two games at full strength before the loss to Auburn, the Cats defeated No. 22 Tennessee by 28 points and then earned a gritty league victory on the road at Texas A&M. In that Auburn game, UK was leading by nine points when Washington was hurt midway through the first half, and the Wildcats still had chances until the end, when Auburn ultimately won 80-71.
“They were better than Auburn for the vast majority of the game,” Self said in his postgame press conference. “The score just didn’t really indicate it.”
On Saturday night, Kentucky outrebounded Kansas 41-29 and scored 17 second-chance points to the Jayhawks’ six. The Cats constantly won the 50-50 balls and held KU to 40.7 percent shooting.
“The problem was that we didn’t compete on the glass, and we didn’t play physical,” Self said. “The two things that we had to do is rebound and get back in transition. And we didn’t do either one. We even sent three guys back the whole time. It was just a poor, poor effort. We probably won’t play anybody better than them in transition. But we contributed to them being good. …
“We can talk about what we didn’t do, but the real focus should be on what they did do. I mean, they were really good.”
Self also singled out a few Kentucky players.
Junior forward Keion Brooks scored a career-high 27 points, battling for five offensive rebounds (with eight boards total) while scoring around the basket and hurting Kansas from the middle of the court with his jumper when the Jayhawks’ tried a triangle-and-two defense.
Self noted that Brooks had tried out for the USA Basketball U18 squad that he coached in 2018, but the future Kentucky Wildcat didn’t make the cut.
“I asked him after the game, ‘You still that pissed at me because we didn’t pick you for the squad?’” Self said, laughing as he talked about the exchange. He said Brooks laughed at the remark, too.
The KU coach said point guard Sahvir Wheeler, who had seven points and a team-high eight assists in 34 minutes, was impressive, especially with his smothering defense.
“Sahvir was great,” he said. “He picked us up for 94 feet. I thought he totally controlled (the game). By far, the best player in the first half.”
Oscar Tshiebwe had 17 points, 14 rebounds and four steals, taking his physical brand of basketball to the Jayhawks. Kansas big man David McCormack had just three points and one rebound, and Self didn’t play him in the final 18 minutes of the game.
“And then, of course, Oscar was Oscar,” Self said, adding later that his team just wasn’t “tough” enough for Tshiebwe and the Wildcats.
“It’s disappointing. I hate it,” Self said. “Fans were so jacked for ‘GameDay.’ We were excited to play. … But that was not two good teams playing tonight. That was one great team and one very average team tonight.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2022 at 9:37 PM.
