The battle of the blue bloods on display on Saturday between Kentucky and Kansas reminded Wildcat fans that the Jayhawks, despite their three-game losing skid, are still a force to be reckoned with.

Heading into the matchup the Cats were riding a wave of momentum, having won four straight games, creating a new wave of optimism for fans after a disappointing start to the season.

The importance of the game was highlighted long before tip-off, with hundreds of students cramming into a long line outside the arena to bring a level of intensity that Rupp Arena had been criticized for not having. 

The beginning of the game was a back-and-forth slugfest, with both teams trading blows and scoring on almost every possession. 

Unfortunately for Kentucky, later in the first half the Jayhawks started to pull away, grabbing a seven-point lead by halftime. 

The Jayhawks employed a physical game plan that was aimed at negating the interior defensive presence of Oscar Tshiebwe, utilizing high ball screens, which would draw Tshiebwe away from the paint and into a zone, making him unable to defend the pass inside. 

Head coach John Calipari noticed Kansas’ plan but was unable to find a solution. 

“If it’s an empty side ball screen, they gotta get in there, and they weren’t,” Calipari said. “We were saying play (Gradey) Dick and play (Jalen) Wilson, but we were playing too wide, and we were opening up the court.”  

The second half kept the same high screen gameplan but altered the intended target of the screen. 

The Jayhawks drew Tshiebwe out and penetrated inside, which then drew the defenders on the arc to guard the close shot, to which Kansas would pass the ball out to an open shooter and get a clean shot away. 

The eventual dagger that allowed Kansas to seal the game was its 3-point shooting down the stretch, with the Jayhawks converting three times from the arc to push the game out of reach. 

The lack of physicality and movement shown by Kentucky exposed a plethora of defensive problems that the Cats will need to solve for their upcoming games. 

“They were physical,” Calipari said. “Their ball screens were really physical, knocked us off point a couple times, they were coming right at it that way.” 

Tshiebwe wasn’t the only player to struggle on the defensive end either, as the revitalized Jacob Toppin found himself struggling to defend the interior and grab necessary rebounds as well. 

“I was gassed,” Toppin said. “I don’t know if I have to do more conditioning or what, but I didn’t attack the glass like I usually do, so that’s on me. It’s a team effort. We didn’t dominate the boards, so we just gotta be better at doing that if we wanna win games.” 

This was extremely evident in the first half, which saw the Cats completely taken out of the rebounding game, having failed to grab a single offensive rebound, which led to zero second chance points for Kentucky.

It wasn’t just the defensive side of the ball that gave the Cats trouble though, as they also found themselves struggling to score meaningful points from deep. 

The shots from beyond the arc refused to drop against the Jayhawks, with the Cats collectively shooting 2-13 from three, with Cason Wallace being the only scorer from downtown. 

Former Iowa transfer CJ Fredrick was notably off his game, going 0-5 from beyond the arc and ending the game with two points. 

“I said to CJ, ‘You’re gonna make a three’,” Calipari said. “But it just wasn’t his day. They’re not machines. They’re not robots, but in these games some of them have to step up and make a shot.” 

Another thing that took the Cats out of the game from the start was their lack of converted free throws, a crucial aspect of the game that the Wildcats had seemingly solved during their four-game winning streak. 

During the aforementioned winning streak, the Cats made 57 free throws out of 74 attempts, earning a free-throw percentage of 77%. 

Despite recent good form, the first half of Saturday’s game saw the Cats shoot just 4-11 from the charity stripe, a measly 36%. 

While the figure was better in the second half, the Wildcats still went on to lose the game by nine points.

While a bitter loss, Antonio Reeves believed that his team put up an excellent fight. 

“We (were) definitely with them the whole game and we know we’re capable of beating these teams,” Reeves said. “You just have to figure out that little piece that we keep on missing as we keep playing these tough games, we just have to figure it out.” 

Now finished with all non-conference opponents, the Cats look to charge into the postseason with a string of tough SEC opponents coming up. 

Kentucky is scheduled to head into Oxford, Mississippi, to face off against Ole Miss on Tuesday, Jan. 31, with tip-off scheduled for 9:00 PM on ESPN.

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