WILDCATS

Kentucky basketball dominates Kansas, 72-40

Kyle Tucker

UP NEXT FOR KENTUCKY
Boston U. 7 p.m. Friday%2C Rupp Arena%2C FSN

INDIANAPOLIS -- Don't think John Calipari will stick to his two platoons against top competition? Not sure it'll work against elite teams? There's a whole lot of season left, but No. 1 Kentucky's 72-40 win over No. 5 Kansas on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse sent quite a message.

The Wildcats (3-0) substituted five for five all game against the Jayhawks (1-1) and dominated almost from start to finish, hitting KU with waves of fresh talent that even a squad with five former five-star recruits of its own could not match. Afterward, Jayhawks coach Bill Self shook his head at the podium as he opened a bottle of water.

"I was hoping that was vodka," he joked. "Somebody's going to have to be special a certain night for them to get knocked off."

Self, who has a national championship to his credit and finished runner-up to Kentucky in 2012, said he doesn't think it is crazy to think this team could actually go undefeated.

"Maybe if a team could run four corners" to slow the Cats down, he suggested. "I can only remember one other game that was a beatdown like this."

Eleven Kentucky players scored at least four points, led by 11 from center Dakari Johnson and 10 from point guard Andrew Harrison, who also had four assists. Freshman Karl-Anthony Towns had nine and eight rebounds, plus four blocks and three assists, while junior Willie Cauley-Stein had seven points and 10 boards.

The Cats started much better than last year against Michigan State in this same event, when a shell-shocked group of freshmen fell behind 10-0 and never could completely dig out of that hole. This time, Kentucky was the aggressor.

After a back-and-forth start and brief 6-5 Jayhawks lead, the Cats used their size, talent and depth to suffocate a Kansas team that's breaking in three new starters this season. A 21-4 run, including 12-1 at one point by the first platoon, made it 26-10 UK with 9:01 to go in the first half.

"No, we're not that good," Calipari said afterward. "We kind of bum-rushed them a little bit, and every time they looked, there were more tanks coming over the hill. It wasn't substitutes; it was reinforcements. Here they come. It kind of gets to you."

The first-half lead grew to 18 with three minutes left before an 11-3 Jayhawks burst closed the gap to 38-28 at the break. By that point, the Cats' two platoons had each played three rotations, all 10 players had scored and Kansas was shooting a mere 24.2 percent.

With the exception of some spot substitutions for foul trouble, Calipari stuck to his usual groupings: Andrew and Aaron Harrison, Alex Poythress, Towns and Cauley-Stein in the first platoon; Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Marcus Lee and Johnson in the second. No one played more than 21 minutes.

"I'm blessed to have a group of guys like this," Calipari said. "They're talented, but they're selfless enough to do it."

Kentucky swatted eight first-half shots, three by the 6-11 freshman Towns, who shook off a slow start to his college career to record a near double-double. Junior Alex Poythress pinned a pair of shots against the glass on trailing blocks just when KU players thought they were all alone for an easy score.

That was the story of the night, as the Wildcats smothered KU and gave nothing easy. Offensively, Kentucky shot a decent 43 percent but had only six turnovers and at one point went 22 minutes without coughing one up.

"It's just trust. We trust in what Coach is telling us," Cauley-Stein said, explaining why the platoon plan has not crumbled. "If you're winning, it makes it a lot better. Everybody's going to be happy."

Both Kansas' five-star freshmen, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Cliff Alexander, picked up two fouls in the first six minutes of the game and sat for long stretches. The Cats didn't have to worry much about that. They committed 21 fouls, but no one picked up more than three and the Jayhawks only hit 15 of 27 from the line.

Kentucky so bludgeoned Kansas — a preseason top-five team, remember — that the Cats' 11th and 12th men, Dominique Hawkins and Derek Willis entered with almost five minutes still to go. Willis buried a 3-pointer to push the lead to 29.

The walk-ons played the final 1:21 and a huge UK contingent, by the sound of it, among the crowd of 19,300 roared with delight. So maybe this platoon thing will work after all.

Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.