The reffing could have been called a bit spotty, but Kentucky’s breakdowns near the end also cost them the game.
Advertisement
The talking heads can debate all they want about who really is the best point guard in America, but for the past few weeks, Tyler Ulis has been the best.
“He has no reason to take any blame on himself”, said Poythress, who had 13 points and eight rebounds. He never left the court.
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Five players scored in double figures – including a team-high 15 from Trevon Bluiett – as the Musketeers shook off a sluggish start to roll over the Blue Demons.
Selden scored 33 points on 12 of 20 shooting – and only five of those shots were from behind the arc.
It was a high-level offensive game on both sides. Kentucky shot 53.2 percent – on the road, against a top 5 team. Kansas was whistled 20 times.
It was a game of swings.
It’s always fun when two major college basketball powerhouses meet in the regular season, and that was the case on Saturday night when Kentucky and Kansas met in the midwest for one of the best games of the season so far. He didn’t slow down in the second half as he put the Jayhawks on his back in the comeback effort. Kansas came back. The Jayhawks led by three with 4:02 left, and Kentucky came back to lead by one. Perry Ellis went to the line and made one free throw to send it to overtime and set Kansas up to win it against a broken Kentucky frontcourt. We fought. But when you have a chance to win like we did, you choke it – every play is a winning play. I like Dan Dakich. “So I do think it kind of gives us a boost going back into conference play”.
Harrison Leiszler, 6, from Lawrence, Kan. portrays a young James Naismith, inventor of the game of basketball, during the filming of ESPN College GameDay at Allen Fieldhouse, in Lawrence, Kan., Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, hours before the tip-off the NCAA college basketball game between Kansas and Kencutky.
Graham led the Jayhawks in assists with 5 against only 1 turnover.
Self wanted to win badly enough that he reached into his bag of tactical tricks and pulled out a triangle-and-two defense in the second half.
On Friday night, some Kansas Jayhawks fans ran into a Coach Cal in street clothes, looking somewhat like the Fonz from Happy Days in Lawrence, Kansas. In his fourth consecutive 20-plus outing, Ulis added eight assists and three steals in 45 minutes. “UK has made 76.1 percent over the last five gameso UK tied a season high with 18 assistso The Wildcats blocked a season-high 11 Tiger attemptso UK held Missouri to 54 points, the Wildcats” best defensive performance of the season.
Kentucky is in the thick of a conference race with surprising seasons from Texas A&M, LSU, and SC.
The Jayhawks have won 36 straight games in the nation’s most hostile arena. But that doesn’t mean they can’t. “Everybody who was playing was fighting”.
“We’re just learning now the plays we must make and the plays, just as importantly, you don’t make”. Still, it’s always curious.
– See what people were saying about Kansas vs. Kentucky during KUsports.com’s live coverage. Poythress, Derek Willis, Marcus Lee and Skal Labissiere all fouled out in the second half, leaving Calipari with limited options down the stretch and in the overtime period.
That’s tough to overcome. Kentucky turned it over at key times, unforced errors that cost them dearly. Though the loss stings, it was a great game by United Kingdom and a big step forward towards becoming the Final Four contender we all thought they would become.
No. 7 XAVIER 86, DEPAUL 65: In Rosemont, Illinois, Trevon Bluiett scored 15 points and the Musketeers (19-2, 7-2 Big East), used a 29-5 burst spanning the halves to post their third straight win. That hoop launched a 7-0 flurry by the Jayhawks to gain an 85-78 advantage. He got pretty close to being handed No. 10, though. The Wildcats had to work for their points, but still executed well offensively.
“To win those kinds of games as an opponent you’ve got to be careful of runs and 3s”, Calipari said at a news conference ahead of the game.
All four of Kentucky’s big men ended up fouling out. After leading by two, he was incredulous that his team could leave Selden open for the go-ahead three. “I feel it’s going to make us better”. They still do the same stuff. “And then we also got beat on the dribble so many times it was scary, and it was the same, they were going at the same guys”. And then coming up with balls.
Advertisement
-Next for the Wildcats: UK travels to Tennessee on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
