LEXINGTON, Ky. — A prime opportunity to earn a major boost to its NCAA Tournament résumé slipped through Kentucky’s grasp Saturday night in Rupp Arena.
Reigning national champion Kansas came to town ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and sitting at No. 9 in the NCAA’s NET ratings, and the Jayhawks left Lexington with a 77-68 victory, enduring UK’s most raucous home crowd of the season and putting an end to the Wildcats’ four-game winning streak.
Rupp Arena was packed 15 minutes before tipoff, and the Cats rode that early energy in the opening segments of the game, leading for much of the first half but never putting much distance between themselves and the Jayhawks.
A late first-half flurry by Kansas sent them to halftime with a seven-point lead, and — while Kentucky battled throughout the second half — the Cats never again regained an advantage.
Oscar Tshiebwe led UK with 18 points and nine rebounds, adding four assists. Jacob Toppin and Cason Wallace scored 14 points each for Kentucky.
The Big 12’s leading scorer, Jalen Wilson, led the Jayhawks with 22 points.
Kansas (17-4) came into the game with three consecutive losses and avoided what would have been the first four-game skid in Bill Self’s 20 seasons as Jayhawks’ head coach. Their last four-game losing streak came in the 1988-89 campaign, which was Roy Williams’ first season as KU’s coach. The defending national champions now have 2,374 victories in program history, extending their lead in all-time wins to seven over second-place Kentucky.
Neither team led by more than five points in the first half — and the majority of the contest was a one-possession game — until Dajuan Harris hit a jumper with 3:42 before the break to give Kansas a 36-29 lead. The Jayhawks upped their lead to nine points later in the half before Sahvir Wheeler hit a shot in the final seconds before halftime to cut the KU advantage to 41-34 at halftime.
The Wildcats (14-7) played with ample energy in the early going — and made 70% of their 2-point shots in the first half — but the deficit shouldn’t have been surprising given a few other statistics. Kentucky, which is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in college basketball, had zero offensive boards on 16 chances in the first half. The Cats were outrebounded 21-13 before the break. They also missed all six of their 3-point attempts and went just 4 for 11 on free throws before halftime.
UK made all 12 of its free-throw attempts in the second half. The Cats shot just 2 for 13 from 3-point range for the game, and Kansas won the battle of the boards 34-29.
Kentucky will now return to Southeastern Conference play for the final 10 games of the regular season. Up next for the Wildcats is a road trip Tuesday night at Mississippi, which is 1-7 in the league and in a four-way tie for last place in the SEC standings.
UK is now 1-6 in “Quad 1” games, the toughest matchups a team can play, according to the NCAA’s metrics.
