Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s statement win at Kansas
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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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Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 80-62 win over the fifth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday night at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
1. Kentucky is a national championship contender
True, the Wildcats are ranked 12th in the latest AP Top 25. They were No. 9 in the latest NCAA NET rankings. Four losses stained their résumé. They were but 1-3 against ranked teams. They were just 2-3 in true road games. Old news, that.
Despite all that, Kentucky showed Saturday that when healthy and at its best it is capable of beating anyone in the country. This is not just a potential Final Four team, but a team capable of winning the whole thing.
“We wanted to see how good we were,” said junior forward Keion Brooks, who was very, very good. “And we went in made a statement tonight.”
They statement started almost from the opening tip. Right there in front of Rock Chalk Jayhawks, the Cats made six of their first 10 shots to go up 12-8, then rocketed out to a 25-13 lead. That caused Kansas Coach Bill Self to call his first timeout. A little three minutes later, Self called another. The Cats were up 35-20 at that point. There was still 7:12 left in the half.
By intermission, Kentucky’s lead was jaw-dropping 20 points, 51-31. Record book time. It was UK’s largest halftime advantage in a road game since a 45-15 lead Jan. 29, 2019, at Vanderbilt. It was the most points a Kentucky team had scored in the first half in a road game since a 60-39 lead at Ole Miss on Dec. 29, 2016.
If John Calipari’s took its foot off the gas in the second half, it was only slightly. Kansas did slice the visitors’ lead to 14 at 62-48 with 13:12 left. But in the midst of scoring 15 consecutive points, Brooks went back to work to stretch the lead back out to 68-50. And when Kellan Grady buried a three-ball from the left wing with 6:27 left, and Jacob Toppin followed with a follow-shot score at 5:52, Kentucky was back up 73-52. Kansas fans had seen enough. To the exits they went.
2. Kentucky plays well when Keion Brooks plays well
Keion Brooks has not played much better than he played Saturday. Brooks scored a career-high 27 points, grabbed eight rebounds. He had one assist, but it was pretty one — a wrap-around entry pass for an Oscar Tshiebwe dunk. Brooks was 9-for-16 from the floor and 9-for-10 from the foul line. He grabbed five offensive rebounds. Plus, he did not commit a single turnover in his 27 minutes.
“Keion was on fire,” teammate Oscar Tshiebwe said.
Afterward, Brooks was asked what he ate before the game —- ‘What I usually eat, chicken, salmon and mashed potatoes,” he said — and if he had any inkling he would have such a magical night in one of college basketball’s magical buildings?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I just felt good tonight.”
When you feel good, you play good. And Kentucky has a tendency to play that much better when Brooks is on his game. Not just the scoring. Afterward, Calipari almost begged the media to not get carried away with Brooks’ point production, but instead praise the other things the junior did on the court.
Indeed, when Brooks is aggressive, he’s usually in the flow. A couple of games back, he didn’t fight for a loose ball on the sidelines at Texas A&M and Calipari couldn’t wait to sub him out of the game. In this game, Calipari said at one point he went down the bench to sub Jacob Toppin in just to give Brooks a rest. Toppin told his coach to leave Brooks in. He was playing too well to come out.
“That’s when you know you have a good team,” Calipari said.
The coach also said he told Brooks that when UK was dying in the second half, the junior made something out of nothing. “You won us the game,” Calipari told his veteran forward.
3. A healthy Kentucky team is a tough Kentucky team
TyTy Washington was not on his game Saturday. Back in the lineup after missing the Mississippi State game on Tuesday night because of an ankle injury, Washington was just 1-for-9 from the floor and missed all four of his three-point shots.
Still, the freshman guard did make five assists and committed just one turnover in his 32 minutes. That’s right. For someone who didn’t practice on Thursday, and was questionable for Saturday, Washington played 32 minutes.
Meanwhile, Sahvir Wheeler was not rocked by any blindside screens. UK’s point guard dished eight assists and scored seven points in 34 minutes. And Toppin, who had injured his ankle in Tuesday’s overtime win over Mississippi State, played 11 minutes. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor and grabbed three rebounds.
The point: The Cats had their full arsenal. Wheeler missed 36 minutes of the loss at LSU after injuring his neck. Washington missed the final 29 minutes of the loss at Auburn after injuring his ankle. There were no such excuses for the Cats at Kansas. Kentucky took advantage.
The Cats ended up shooting 50.8 percent from the floor to Kansas’ 40.7 percent. They outrebounded the Jayhawks 41-29. Tshiebwe finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds. UK had 19 assists, compared to nine turnovers. It scored 17 second-chance points to just six for Kansas. It led for 37 minutes and 56 seconds of a 40-minute game on the home floor of the fifth-ranked team in the nation.
One last thing: Kansas star Ochai Agbaji had scored 66 points in his last two games. He lit up Kansas State for a career-high 29, then topped it with 37 against Texas Tech in a double overtime game on Monday. Saturday, Agbaji was 4-for-14 from the floor, including 2-for-6 from three. He finished with 13 points.
Bottom line: Kentucky played as well in beating Kansas 80-62 on the road as it played in thrashing Tennessee at home 107-79 two Saturdays ago.
Said Tshiebwe, “When we have a full roster and team, it is dangerous for who we are going against.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2022 at 9:40 PM.
