Reaction to Kentucky basketball’s throttling of Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse
Reaction to Kentucky basketball’s 80-62 win over Kansas on Saturday:
Kentucky slugs Kansas. Gary Bedore of the Kansas City Star reports, “’We’ve been living on the razor’s edge the last couple weeks. I don’t want to say it caught up to us tonight — a much better team tonight put it on us pretty good,’”KU coach Bill Self said after the Jayhawks’ 17-game fieldhouse win streak came to an end.”
Kansas gets bullied and blue. Matt Tait of the Lawrence Journal World writes, “The bottom line on Saturday was simple: When Kentucky got to its spots and took the shots it wanted, Kansas was powerless to stop it. The Jayhawks flashed moments of defensive disruption — most off of various zone looks — but those were too few and far between for KU to keep up.”
Kentucky could win it all. Ben Roberts of the Herald-Leader reports, “That was a great basketball team we played tonight,” Kansas coach 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.”
Keion Brooks credits his teammates. Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader reports, “Nothing unusual happened before the game to tip off what was in store for Kentucky’s Keion Brooks at Kansas on Saturday night. He said he ate his usual pregame meal of chicken, salmon and mashed potatoes. He drank the usual Gatorade and water.”
UK could be a No. 1 seed. Jon Hale of the Courier-Journal writes, “The NCAA Tournament selection committee cannot give Kentucky credit for wins it did not earn, but the team’s record when at full strength is hard to criticize. There are plenty of opportunities left for Kentucky to take that decision out of the committee’s hands. Take care of business in the remaining road games and marquee home contests against LSU and Alabama, and Kentucky will have a resume that compares with almost any.”
Kentucky can go far. John Clay of H-L writes, “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.”
Tshiebwe over Agbaji. Mark Story of the H-L reports, “Kentucky-Kansas was a showdown of players — Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe and Ochai Agbaji of Kansas — being mentioned in the National Player of the Year race. In that battle, Tshiebwe was the decisive victor.”
Kentucky has a wealth of options. Kevin Flaherty of CBS Sports writes, “And then there’s Keion Brooks. At different points in his Kentucky career, he’s been discussed as a possible All-SEC player. And he looked like that, and more, against Kansas. Brooks scored 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and had a 9-of-10 night from the free-throw line, and his work on the glass and sweet stroke in the midrange meant Kansas couldn’t ever really generate momentum to come back in.”
A rare sight at Allen Fieldhouse. Derek Terry of the Cats Pause writes, “It was a sight rarely seen at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas fans, so used to watching basketball royalty in their home venue, began streaming out of the building well before the final horn sounded.”
Kansas loses first game at home. Nathan Swaffer of the Daily Kansan writes,“Kansas had no answers for Kentucky in nearly any facet. Kentucky shot 51% on 31-61 shooting from the field. Kentucky also destroyed Kansas on the glass as the Wildcats out-rebounded Kansas 41-29.”
Cats dominate at Allen Fieldhouse. Hunter Shelton of the Kentucky Kernel writes, “Kentucky had missed multiple opportunities to earn marquee wins on the road this season, dropping close contests to both LSU and Auburn. The Wildcats would not let another opportunity slide, throttling KU from tip-off to the final buzzer. The lead would grow as large as 24 points, with UK shooting 50.8 percent as a team.”
Kentucky gave a first half haymaker. Adam Luckett of KSR writes, “In the first half, Kentucky scored 51 points, averaged 1.46 points per trip on 35 possessions, shot 65.4 percent from two, collected 22 points at the rim, had an assist rate of 61.9 percent, and a scoring rate of 68.6 percent. You cannot do any better than that.”
UK beats ranked opponent on the road. Jeff Drummond of Cats Illustrated writes, “After two unsuccessful attempts earlier this season, Kentucky (17-4) proved it could win on the road against a top opponent. Perhaps not coincidentally, it was the first time the Cats had their entire roster healthy for a game. They responded with a 51% shooting performance, a plus-12 effort on the glass, and more than twice as many assists (19) as turnovers (9).”
