College basketball final: Kentucky 80, Kansas 62
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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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For the first time since 2016, the Kentucky Wildcats travel to Lawrence to take on the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday. The game is part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. ESPN has the 6 p.m. telecast.
Kansas enters the game ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25. Bill Self’s Jayhawks are 17-2 overall. Kentucky is ranked No. 12 in the latest AP poll. John Calipari’s Wildcats are 15-4 overall.
The last time these two teams met in Lawrence, Kansas prevailed 90-84 in overtime. Tyler Ulis scored 26 points, but four of his teammates fouled out — Alex Poythress, Derek Willis, Marcus Lee and Skal Labissiere. Wayne Selden scored 33 for Kansas in the victory.
Scroll down for the dedicated Twitter feed.
Final score: Kentucky 80, Kansas 62.
Note: Kentucky has a 36-22 rebounding edge with 5:48 left.
Note: Keion Brooks with 27 points with 7:18 left in the game.
Note: Kentucky is 17-of-28 from the floor for 60.7 percent at the 4:10 mark.
Note: Kentucky has not won at Allen Fieldhouse since 1983.
Kentucky rolls over Kansas 80-62
Keion Brooks scored a career-high 27 points and Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds as Kentucky drubbed Kansas 80-62. The Cats led by 20 points (51-31) at the half and ended up shooting 50.8 percent from the floor to 40.7 for the host Jayhawks. UK dominated the glass 41-29. Brooks had eight rebounds for the winners.
Ochai Agbaji, who had scored 66 points in last two games for Kansas, was held to 13 points. He was 4-of-14 from the floor, including 2-of-6 from three point range.
Kentucky improves to 17-4 with its first road win over a top five team since winning at No. 4 Louisville in 2014. Kansas dropped to 17-3.
Post-game links
Keion Brooks credits teammates for star turn at Kansas, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
Brooks and Tshiebwe co-star as Cats crush Kansas, reports Tipton.
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s statement win, by John Clay of the Herald-Leader.
Bill Self says Kentucky can win it all, reports Ben Roberts of the H-L.
Five things you need to know from Kentucky basketball’s blowout win, by Mark Story of the H-L.
Kentucky slugs Kansas, reports Kansas City Star.
What to know from Kentucky’s big win at Kansas, by Jon Hale of the Courier-Journal.
Brooks dominates Kansas in win, writes Derek Terry of the Cats Pause.
Kentucky hammers Kansas, reports Adam Luckett of KSR.
Bill Self says he won’t dwell on defeat, reports Zac Boyer of the Lawrence Journal-World.
Oscar with 17 points, 14 rebounds with 3:30 remaining
The Kentucky center is 8-of-12 from the floor as the Cats are cruising with an 80-56 lead with 3:30 left at Allen Fieldhouse. Tshiebwe has three offensive rebounds and 11 on the defensive end. UK has a 39-22 edge on the boards. UK is shooting 54.4 percent for the game. Kansas is shooting 41.5. And Kansas fans are heading for the exits.
Keion Brooks now up to 27 points
That’s a career-high for the UK forward. Brooks has 27 and Kentucky leads 68-52 with 7:18 remaining. He is 9-of-15 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the line. The Indiana native also has eight rebounds.
Kansas has outscored Kentucky 17-11 midway through second half
The Jayhawks have cut Kentucky’s lead to 62-48 with 11:46 left. After scoring just three points in the first half, Ochai Agbaji has scored six in the second half. The Cats are just 2-of-10 from the floor this half but still lead by 14.
Keion Brooks having a terrific night
Brooks has 19 points, 8 rebounds and an assist as UK leads Kansas 60-38 with 15:44 left. In fact, Brooks has outebounded Oscar Tshiebwe, who has six. The Cats have a 28-15 advantage on the boads. UK has made 23 of 41 shots on the night for 56.1 percent.
Kentucky up 20 points at the half
After a magnificent first half, Kentucky is up 51-31 over Kansas at the half. Keion Brooks led the way with 12 points. Oscar Tshiebwe scored 11. The Cats hit 21 of 34 shots for 61.8 percent from the floor. Kansas was 13-of-33 for 39.4 percent. Christian Braun led the Jayhawks with seven points.
Ochai Agbaji, who scored 37 points in Kansas’ double overtime win over Texas Tech on Monday night, scored just three points in the first half. Averaging 21 points per game, Agbaji was just 1-of-6 from the floor.
Kentucky built a 23-12 advantage on the glass in the first half. Tshiebwe had five rebounds. Brooks chipped in with four. Sahvir Wheeler was credited with six assists in the first half.
Kansas calls two timeouts in 3:17
Kentucky jumped to a 25-13 lead forcing Kansas coach Bill Self to call time with 10:29left. Now UK is up 35-20 with Self calling time again with 7:10 left in the half. UK has made 15 of 24 shots for 62.5 percent. Cats have outrebounded Kansas 16-6 and have a 20-8 advantage in the paint.
Cats getting good minutes from Lance Ware
Oscar Tshiebwe is getting some rest and sub Lance Ware is more than holding his own. He has a basket and a rebound, plus a nice defensive play. Kentucky leads Kansas 21-13 with 11:54 left in the first half. UK has made 9 of 13 shots for 69.2 percent.
Kentucky off to good start
The Wildcats are up on Kansas 12-8 with 15:49 left in the first half. UK has made 6 of 10 shots. Oscar Tshiebwe had four points, followed by Keion Brooks, Jacob Toppin, TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler with two each. Kansas is 3-of-7 from the floor. Kentucky has scored 10 points in the paint, to two for Kansas.
Starting lineups
Kentucky: Keion Brooks, Kellan Grady, Oscar Tshiebwe, TyTy Washington, Sahvir Wheeler.
Kansas: Christian Braun, Dajuan Harris, Ochai Agbaji, Jalen Wilson, David McCormack.
TyTy Washington is going through pregame warmups
Reports from Lawrence say that UK guard TyTy Washington is participating in warm-ups. Washington missed Kentucky’s 82-74 overtime win over Mississippi State with an injured ankle. The freshman guard injured the ankle when he came down on the leg of teammate Oscar Tshiebwe with eight minutes to go in the first half at Auburn last Saturday.
Washington is averaging 13.6 points and 4.4 assists per game. John Calipari said Washington did not practice with the team on Thursday. Nor did Jacob Toppin. He is reportedly going through pregame warmups at KU, as well.
From Ben Roberts: “Calipari says on UK Radio Network pregame show that TyTy Washington and Jacob Toppin both practiced yesterday. Says if he puts them out there and it doesn’t look like they’re moving at 100 percent, he’ll take them out.”
Officials for Kentucky-Kansas
Officials for Saturday night’s game are Doug Sirmons, Keith Kimble and Ron Groover. Sirmons drew John Calipari’s ire in UK’s 90-84 overtime loss at Kansas on January 30, 2016. The next UK game that Sirmons worked, at South Carolina on Feb. 13, 2016, Calipari was ejected less than three minutes into the game. Kentucky went on to win 89-62.
Sirmons has not worked a UK game this season. Last year, he worked UK’s 65-62 loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic and the Cats’ 75-70 loss at Missouri. Kimble worked the Cats’ 79-71 loss to Duke in the Champions Classic and their 78-66 win at Vanderbilt on Jan. 11. Groover worked UK’s 66-62 loss at Notre Dame on Dec. 11.
What the computers say about the matchup
Through Friday’s action, Kansas was No. 7 and Kentucky No. 9 in the NCAA NET rankings. Kansas is 6-1 in Quad 1 games; UK is 3-4. Kentucky is No. 7 and Kansas No. 9 in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. UK is ranked fourth in adjusted offensive efficiency and 25th in adjusted defensive efficiency. Kansas is ranked third on offense and 51st on defense. Kansas is fourth and Kentucky eighth in the Sagarin ratings.
Announcers for Kentucky-Kansas
The ESPN crew will consist of Dan Shulman on play-by-play, Jay Bilas as analyst and Holly Rowe working the sidelines. The UK Radio Network will have Tom Leach and Mike Pratt on the call.
This story was originally published January 29, 2022 at 4:00 PM.
