First half offense, team defense shine as Kentucky hammers Kansas

The romp over Tennessee was nice, but most expected Kentucky to handle business at Rupp Arena against the Vols. Meanwhile, the Wildcats were about to enter February without a true statement.

That was all changed at Allen Fieldhouse as the Wildcats destroyed Kansas in The Phog.

Behind a dominant first half offensive performance combined with the best defensive effort of the season, the Wildcats mauled Kansas from start to finish to lock up a winning record for the SEC against the Big 12 in the latest edition of their conference challenge.

Saturday was a fun night to be in the Big Blue Nation. KSR is here to provide a quick recap with a dive into the box score to pick out the numbers that stood out in the biggest win of the season.

First half haymaker

Kentucky entered Saturday’s showdown with Kansas ranked as the No. 4 offense in adjusted efficiency at KenPom. However, the Wildcats have achieved that without being fully healthy for most of the year.

When Kentucky has their guys on the floor, this team appears to have the ingredients to be special on offense. The Wildcats flashed that potential for 40 minutes against Tennessee, and the ceiling showed up again at Allen Fieldhouse.

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.

Things slowed down in the second half as Kansas muddied the game with zone defense, and John Calipari took his foot off the gas to sit on a big lead, but the message was delivered.

Kentucky might have the best offense in college basketball.

Kentucky plays 40 minutes of defense

Throughout the season, the defense has remained the biggest question for the Wildcats. Kentucky is the top rebounding team in college basketball, and the offense might be special. However, true national championship contenders get things done on both ends of the floor.

After being sliced up in the second half against Auburn, the Wildcats have turned around and delivered two solid consecutive defensive performances. In the overtime win against Mississippi State, Kentucky brought out the clamps to shut down a top-30 offense in both the first half and overtime. However, a dreadful second half opened the door to a big comeback.

There was no letdown performance against Kansas.

The Jayhawks finished the game with 61 points in 67 possessions averaging just 0.92 points per trip. KU shot 48.9 percent from two thanks to an 11 of 25 mark on lay-ups and was just 6 of 18 from three. Kentucky collected 81 percent of the rebounds on that end and allowed only seven fast break points.

Kansas is a top-five offense in college basketball that was stymied by Kentucky. Player of the year candidate Ochai Agbagi needed 14 shots to get 13 points as the Wildcats took off the head of the snake.

If UK can get stops, the rebounding and offense will take care of the rest. KenPom now has Kentucky at No. 19 in adjusted defensive efficiency, and if that number gets into the top-10 the Wildcats will be a pain to deal with in March.

Keion Brooks Jr. Game

Keion Brooks Jr. was a top-25 prospect in the class of 2020 that everyone has been waiting on to breakout. The junior forward has had an up-and-down career as consistency has been hard to find.

Brooks has seemed to have found a groove this season.

The junior has started every game for the Wildcats and entered Saturday’s game contributing a healthy 10.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per outing. However, the veteran flashed the entire package in the win over No. 5 Kansas.

Brooks led all scorers with 27 points on 15 field goal attempts. The four-man had the touch working in the mid-range and was aggressive around the hoop to draw contact and get to the line for 10 free throw attempts. The forward reeled in eight rebounds and was the best player on the floor for most of his 29 minutes.

Combined with Jacob Toppin, Kentucky got 38 points on 18 shots and 11 rebounds from the four spot with a plus-18 in 40 minutes. Not many teams can beat UK if Cal’s team gets that production from what appears to be the weakest position on offense.

Stats that stood out

• It wasn’t all pretty for Kentucky as the Wildcats had a rough day at the off-ball spot. TyTy Washington and Davion Mintz combined to score just two points on 12 shots as neither could get things going. That was just fine, however, as Washington’s presence on the court seemed to make a huge difference.
• For the game, Sahvir Wheeler finished with seven points and eight assists with three turnovers in 34 minutes. However, his outside shot is the story of late. With another three-point make, Wheeler has made a trey in four of the last five games and is shooting 5 of 9 from three since returning from injury. That is a small sample size but it’s something defenses must now start to respect the jumper. Those makes could open up space for the rest of Kentucky’s offense.
• Oscar Tshiebwe is amazing. In what was just a regular day at the office, the junior big finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and four steals in 30 minutes. Yeah, he’s still the Player of the Year.