Last season, Kentucky was ranked #1 in the nation and Kansas #5 entering the Champions Classic. Kentucky was narrowly defeated by the Michigan State Spartans, while Kansas won an incredibly exciting contest against the Duke Blue Devils. This year, the Wildcats entered at #1 once again and the Jayhawks #5 once again. This time, however, the results were much different, a great thing for Kentucky and bad thing for Kansas.
Kansas actually had a lead at 2-1 very early into the game. That was the last time that they would lead. Kentucky dominated the entire game from start to finish, despite not playing a very efficient offensive game, especially in the first half. Their defense was the difference maker, as they made life miserable for the Jayhawks' post players throughout the game. The bigs for the Wildcats, specifically Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson, forced Kansas to take bad shots and bad angles throughout the first half, and the team as a whole also blocked eight shots, although that number was much higher when you factor in affected shots.
For Kansas, it was a sloppy first half at best. Making just eight shots in the first half of play, the Jayhawks were never really able to get anything going until the last few minutes before halftime. They only committed five turnovers in the half, but missed 25 shots and they were outrebounded by the Wildcats as well, so despite an also poor shooting half from UK, they were able to score much more frequently in transition and on second chance opportunities. Despite all of their short comings in the first half, Kansas only trailed by 10, 38-28, headed into intermission, but it would only get worse for Bill Self's team from that point forward.
Kentucky didn't block as many shots in the second half but they played just as effectively, limiting Kansas to just three made shots from the floor in the second half. KU turned the ball over six more times in the second half, many of them in the paint due to the stellar play of the UK bigs, who had a distinct size advantage over the already undersized Jayhawks. Kentucky also improved offensively in the second half, shooting 48% from the floor, in contrast to their 39.4% from the first half. The Wildcats continued to have a rebounding edge throughout the game, pulling in 47 compared to Kansas' 42. A clear advantage down low opened up many scoring opportunities throughout the game for UK, especially when fatigue set in during the second half, which allowed the likes of Dakari Johnson and Willie Cauley-Stein to dominate even more as the night rolled on.
For as bad as Kansas' first half was, their second half was even worse. Kansas shot just 3/23 in the second half, which gave them an overall shooting percentage for the game of a measly 19.6. 11 total turnovers for the game did not help Kansas as they continue to struggle with holding on to the ball (they had 16 turnovers against UC Santa Barbara on Friday). There were very few positives in this game for Kansas. The effort plays were there, especially early in the first half when both teams were playing sloppy and KU was able to force several turnovers and bad shots, but as the game rolled on they just could not buy a bucket offensively and it killed them. This was the worst loss that Kansas has suffered during Bill Self's tenure, and there is very little than can be seen as a positive for the Jayhawks as a team from this game.
Kentucky's leading scorer was Dakari Johnson, who scored 11 points of 5/6 shooting coming off of the bench. Willie Cauley-Stein led the Wildcats with 10 rebounds, and Andrew Harrison led the team in assists with four. For Kansas, the team's leading scorer was Wayne Selden, who scored nine points but shot just 4/12 from the field. Freshman Cliff Alexander played well, scoring eight points pulling down eight boards off the bench, which led the team. Four players each had one assist for Kansas, giving them just four total on the game.
The sky is the limit for this Kentucky team in the 2014-15 season. They will face three more ranked teams on their non-conference schedule (along with several opponents that are frankly inferior) before starting conference play in the SEC, which is not the toughest conference in the country by any means. When you mix in a favorable schedule with the type of talent that the Wildcats have, this team will be favorites to win the national title throughout the entire season.
This team has a great mix of veteran experience and young, raw skill, and the combined talent of this team rivals any team of the last 10 years, including the championship-winning Kentucky team of 2011-2012. This game only confirmed how skilled Kentucky is and how dominant they can be. This was a great performance for UK, showing the nation that they are definitely deserving of their #1 ranking.
For the Kansas Jayhawks, it's good that this game comes early in the season because there are a lot of things that need to be remedied for Bill Self's squad before the Big 12 season begins. Every team has an off night shooting-wise, but 19.6% from the field is inexcusable, and the continued turnover troubles are a bad sign as well. Add on to that their inability to be effective from the costless throw line, a problem that dates back to last season, as well as plenty of questions about what the rotation will be, and the Jayhawks have plenty to work on.
These things will be corrected in time, but if starting players have games like the one Frank Mason had today (1/10 shooting), it will be a struggle for certain players to see much of the floor as the season continues. Again though, it's early, and with a coach of the caliber of Bill Self, the Kansas Jayhawks will be fine this season.
Next up for Kentucky is a game in Lexington against Boston University on Friday night. Kansas won't play again until Monday night, when they'll host Rider at Allen Fieldhouse.