Before the game, John Calipari hesitated to call this a “statement game” for his Kentucky Wildcats, saying instead that the Kansas Jayhawks could be the team to make the statement. It certainly looked as if Kansas was in position to make a statement, but could not capitalize on a sloppy Kentucky first half. In the second half, Doron Lamb made a statement of his own, breaking open the game and leading Kentucky to a 75-65 win in a battle of top 15 ranked teams.
The first half was certainly no indication of the talent level of these two teams. Kentucky came out obviously with a case of the nerves and found themselves down 7-2 just 3:30 into the game. Kansas pushed the lead to 10-3 but Kentucky went on a 8-0 run to take the lead. Kansas did not fold and rebounded to take a 21-14 lead behind a couple of Connor Teahan 3-pointers. Just when it looked like Kansas was to take control of the game, Kentucky turned to Terrence Jones in the first half. Jones scored 4 straight points to keep Kentucky with striking distance at 21-18.
Due to the sloppiness of the first half, neither team was really able to get into a groove and the game resembled a rugby scrum at times. Marquis Teague had an especially rough first half, with 0 points, 0 assists and 6 turnovers. The rest of the Wildcats seemed to be in the same funk, shooting just 38.5% and turning the ball over 12 times. The Jayhawks could not take advantage of UK’s poor play, shooting 40.7% with 10 turnovers of their own. While the first half was sloppy on both ends, it did not lack in intensity as the score was knotted at 28 at the half.
Kentucky got back to the basics as the second half, going to the duo of Anthony Davis and Terrence Jones for their first 8 points on the second half. Davis had two dunks during that run and Kentucky jumped out to a 36-30 lead. Marquis Teague, maligned in the first half hit 3-point paydirt and UK was up 39-30, forcing the second Kansas timeout with 17:18 left. A Teague layup put the Cats up 45-32 and then the 3-point barrage started. Doron Lamb hit 3 3-pointers and Darius Miller added a trey as Kentucky stretched the lead to 57-40 at the 9:20 mark. Kentucky was not only doing it offensively, but with a constant harassing defense that contested every Kansas shot. Kentucky also took much better care of the ball, going the first 9:15 of the second half without a turnover.
Kansas tried to counter the Kentucky barrage with the one man Tyshawn Taylor show. Taylor scored 12 straight Jayhawk points, mostly from the free throw line, and the rest of his teammates went on an extended slump as Kansas went about 6:00 without a FG. Jeff Withey broke the FG-less streak at the 2:53 mark, but it was far too little, far too late as Kentucky was up 68-54.
In the end, Kentucky’s defense fueled the offense. Kentucky blocked 11 shots on the night and forced 14 turnovers. Anthony Davis had 6 blocks while Terrence Jones added 4. Kentucky harassed the Jayhawks into 33% shooting and outrebounded the Jayhawks 34-29. Defense wins championships and Kentucky’s defense looked to be in mid-season form already.
It was a balanced scoring night for the Cats. All five starters scored in double digits, led by Lamb’s 17, followed by Jones with 15 and Davis with 14. Both Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague had 12 points. Even with the good second half and double digit victory, you can bet John Calipari will not be happy. Kentucky had 19 TO’s and shot just 16-29 from the FT line.
Those are all things to work on, but for now, you have to be happy with the way this team came out in the second half and put away a very good Kansas team in just a few minutes. And the statement that the Wildcats made? This team is just going to get better.