Honestly, for No. 5 Kansas, everything that could have gone wrong against No. 12 Kentucky on Saturday night, went wrong. It would be easy for me to type that and simply walk away, but after watching the game again this morning, it’s a little bit bigger than that, at least from what I saw. Kansas and Kentucky couldn’t have looked any different, in terms of the matchup, last night. To me, everything Kentucky did looked so easy and fluid, while everything looked to be a struggle for Kansas.
Kentucky has some long guys and they are extremely athletic and fast. If you look at the stats, the Wildcats didn’t have a single block last night but made life difficult for Kansas around the basket. How many missed layups/shots around the basket did Kansas miss? Some were just missed, but others were UK guys just putting a body on KU’s guys down low.
I thought Kentucky was the bigger, stronger, faster, and tougher team. Kentucky, without question, was ready to play on Saturday.
“That was a great basketball team we played tonight,” said Kansas head coach Bill Self after the game. “We were not good at all. I’m not sure how good we could be to keep them from being that great. That team that we played tonight could win it all. I know that we contributed to them playing well, but they were dominant, athletic and they shot it. It made us uncomfortable and when we got behind the rim shrunk. We didn’t do many things to get back in it. However, we played decent for a part in the second half, but they got right back to 18 or 20 quick. We can talk about what we didn’t do, or we can talk about what they did well.
“I’m not going to dwell on it at all,” he added. “We weren’t tough, we didn’t take away what you must do to win. There were two things that we had to do today, and we didn’t do them. A lot of that is our fault. We could have done a better job emphasizing or maybe sending four back. There are no six-point plays, it’s two at a time. The kids were trying, but they weren’t trying for the right reasons. They were trying because they wanted to individually do something as a team, rather than playing five-against-five.”
Keion Brooks (27), Oscar Tshiebwe (17), Kellan Grady (12), and Jacob Toppin (11) led the way for Kentucky. The Wildcats dominated the glass, 41-29, and dished out 19 assists to just nine turnovers.
Kansas, offensively, was led by Christian Braun (13) and Ochai Agbaji (13). No other player scored more than eight points against Kentucky. Jalen Wilson went for 8 and 8. Mitch Lightfoot scored 6, Dajuan Harris 5, Remy Martin 5, David McCormack scored 3, KJ Adams 4, Jalen Coleman-Lands 2, and Bobby Pettiford 2.
A few days ago, I wrote that this wasn’t a game where just one or two guys could have been games and Kansas would be successful. This was the type of game, and I think we can all see that now, that needed big performances from Wilson, McCormack, Braun, Agbaji, and then a solid showing from Wilson and Martin. That’s how I saw it heading into the game. I knew Kansas simply couldn’t rely on Agbaji and Braun.
As it turned out, it was a struggle for pretty much the entire team. After leading 5-2 early on, Kansas trailed the remainder of the game. In fact, Self’s squad led for just 1:13 on Saturday. They got to within two points early on in the second half but would get no closer. So, I’m guessing most, if not all of you, watched the game. You don’t me to go back and provide a breakdown of everything that happened. You saw it, and I can assure you, it wasn’t any prettier the second time around.
After the game, I asked Agbaji and Braun what the message was from Self after the game? Both said, for the most part, that everything Kansas wants to accomplish is still very much within reach. Despite the loss, nothing has changed for Kansas.
Self, when I asked him the same question, went a little bit deeper and was, in so many words, basically said the message after the game was why did his squad get their butts whipped? On Saturday, Kansas, without question, got dominated at home by Kentucky. I believe that I read, and I’ll have to go back and look, but the loss yesterday was the 2nd worst home loss under Self, with the first being Texas last year (25). While talking to a few other guys in the media yesterday, I was told that yesterday's home loss was the 7th worst in the history of AFH.
So, the question remains, what happens next? Well, Kansas has a huge stretch of basketball coming up. At Iowa State on February 1, at home against Baylor on February 5, and then at Texas on February 7. The next three games, in my opinion, are as big as it gets.
On Saturday night, Self said he would have rather lost to Kentucky and beat Iowa State on Tuesday night. He also added that beating Kentucky wasn’t in the cards due to the way his team play. However, if he was given the option, beating Iowa State would have been the top priority, and still is a day after the loss to Kentucky.
Bill Self is a Hall-of-Fame coach and has forgotten more basketball than I’ll never know. That’s the bottom line. That, my friends, is an absolute fact. With that being said, I’ve got a few opinions with a huge game at Iowa State looming.
First, I say let Remy Martin loose. What exactly does that mean, you ask? Just let Martin play his game. If he’s healthy and ready to go, let him play. Martin averaged close to 20 points per game last season, loves pushing the ball, loves the big moment, has a knack for making plays, and is more than capable of running this offense.
If Martin isn’t healthy and on a minute’s restriction, that’s a different story. However, if he’s been given a clean bill of health, let him play. Again, Martin plays with so much energy and loves the big moment.
After yesterday, I’d seriously consider giving some extended minutes to KJ Adams. He’s young and he’s inexperienced and he isn’t the biggest guy on the court, but he plays big and is going to give you everything he’s got. The only way that he’s going to learn is if he plays. Experience comes from playing and battling through mistakes.
Also, and I forgot to mention this earlier, Kansas is 17-3, and it's still January. This team is far from perfect and could probably have a few more losses, but Self’s squad, aside from yesterday, has found ways to win games. They found a way in Stillwater. They found a way in Norman. They found a way in Manhattan.
The one thing Self said yesterday, and it still sticks out this morning, is that everything that went wrong yesterday is correctable. Kansas isn’t as athletic or as long as other teams, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have success against those teams.
The effort on both ends simply has to be better in the future. To me, it just looked like Kentucky wanted it more yesterday. UK was clearly the better team.
Lastly, we can talk about guys like Joseph Yesufu and Bobby Pettiford, but I’m not sure how much of an opportunity these guys will get moving forward. For Self, trust is a big, big thing when it comes to playing time. With Iowa State, Baylor, and Texas up next on the schedule, trying a way to “get guys” minutes isn’t exactly ideal.
I really thought that Yesufu would have been more of a factor by now, but obviously, that hasn’t been the case. I know that a lot of fans aren’t happy with Harris right now, but his role simply isn’t going to change.
Self loves Harris and is going to roll with him until he’s forced to do otherwise.
Here’s the deal, folks. Before leaving the media room on Saturday night, Self said he would probably show his team a little tape of the UK game, but was going to move on from it and get ready for ISU. To me, and I might be alone here, but the biggest regular-season game to date will be Tuesday night in Ames.
You lose to Iowa State, come home to face Baylor, and then head out to play Texas in Austin. Kansas, without any question at all, must find a way to beat Iowa State on the road. Agbaji, Braun, Wilson, McCormack, Wilson, Martin, and company need to bounce back and deliver a message.
On Saturday night, Kansas was dominated by Kentucky at home. With a national audience watching, the Jayhawks were pounded in Allen Fieldhouse. A day later, the game means nothing and Kansas MUST move on.
Self said everything that went wrong on Saturday is correctable. Kansas has a chance to prove him right in Ames, Iowa on Tuesday night. And if Kansas does bounce back, they need to keep moving forward the rest of the season.
Kansas faces a major test this week. It all starts with Iowa State on Tuesday night. Beat the Cyclones and return home to face Baylor. Take care of business at home and get ready for Texas.
It’s a process. Can’t do one thing without the other. It's true, though, everything Kansas hopes to accomplish this season is still very much in reach. However, the margin for error isn’t what most thought it was, at least not at this stage, when the season started.
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