By the Numbers: Kentucky's 77-68 loss to Kansas

MrsTylerKSR

Well, that stunk. Kentucky had a chance to notch a Quad 1 win, its second-best of the season, but in the end, No. 9 Kansas was simply better. The Jayhawks withstood the Cats’ strong start and exploited Kentucky with the pick-and-roll and made every tough shot they need to in order to get the 77-68 win. There are a lot of frustrating numbers from tonight’s game. After poring over the box score, here are the ones that stood out to me.

34-29: Kansas outrebounded Kentucky by five. The Cats are 0-5 when they’ve has been outrebounded this season. Kansas came into the game ranked No. 72 in the country in total rebounds. Kentucky was No. 18.

4: Kentucky’s offensive rebounds. The Cats didn’t have a single offensive rebound in the first half.

0: Second-chance points. See above. Kansas had 11.

2-13 (15.4%): Kentucky’s three-point shooting tonight. Both of those makes came from Cason Wallace. CJ Fredrick (0-5) and Antonio Reeves (0-3) were a combined 0-8 from three tonight. In Kentucky’s seven losses this season, the Cats were 37-137 (27%) from three.

1: Minute for Chris Livingston in the second half. The freshman started the game on fire, shooting 4-5 from the floor for eight points.

1: Field goal attempt by Oscar Tshiebwe in the final ten minutes of the game.

4-11 (36.4%): Kentucky’s free-throw shooting in the first half. Thankfully, the Cats were a perfect 12-12 from the charity stripe in the second half, but those seven missed free throws still hurt.

12:09: Minutes played by the “Basketball Benny” lineup (Cason Wallace, Antonio Reeves, CJ Fredrick, Jacob Toppin, Oscar Tshiebwe), all in the second half.

5-15: Kentucky’s record against AP Top 25 opponents in the last 20 games dating back to the 2019-20 season. John Calipari is now 5-5 vs. Kansas during his career at Kentucky.