KSR's top takeaways from Kentucky's 80-62 blowout victory at Kansas

Kansas’ 18-game home winning streak has come to a close, with the Kentucky Wildcats taking down the Jayhawks by a final score of 80-62. It was a blowout victory that pushed UK’s record to 17-4 on the year and 6-2 in conference play, good for second in the SEC.

How did the impressive victory come together? And what does it mean for the Wildcats as they look ahead to their matchup vs. Vanderbilt on Wednesday?

Keion Brooks Jr. with a career-high 27 points

Have a night, Keion Brooks Jr.

In what was easily his best performance as a Wildcat, the junior forward finished with a career-high 27 points on 9-16 shooting and 9-10 from the line to go with eight rebounds and an assist. He took over to open the second half, scoring 15 straight points between 17:24 and 8:48, including seven consecutive free throws.

He was aggressive offensively, attacking the basket for strong dunks and drawing fouls to go to the line. His mid-range jumper was also falling all night, with Brooks remaining patient and poised with the ball in his hands. He was also strong defensively, a point of emphasis for John Calipari during his postgame press conference.

Brooks is a walking mismatch, longer, bouncier and more skilled than the competition as a small-ball four. The issue, though, is that his killer instinct is inconsistent and he plays out of control at times. When he’s locked in and plays with patience, he’s capable of dominance like he showed in Lawrence.

We’ve seen flashes of brilliance during Brooks’ time at Kentucky, but never an all-around performance from start to finish. Tonight was the best of Keion Brooks, something fans have been waiting to see since he signed with UK back in 2019.

Kentucky jumps out to a 20-point lead in the first half

You couldn’t have asked for a better start for the Wildcats, who jumped out to a 20-point lead at the half with five players scoring at least five points and two players scoring at least ten (Keion Brooks Jr. with 12 points, Oscar Tshiebwe with 11).

At the break, Kentucky shot 61.8 percent from the field (21-34 FG), 50 percent from three (4-8 3PT) and 83.3 percent from the line (5-6 FT). It was a dominant shooting display that led to the biggest home halftime deficit for Kansas in over 25 years.

Meanwhile, the Jayhawks shot 39.4 percent from the field (13-33 FG), 44.4 percent from three (4-9 3PT) and 50 percent from the line (1-2 FT) at the break.

Kentucky refuses to let go of the rope

Up 20 points at halftime, it would’ve been easy to coast down the stretch, daydreaming of the postgame celebration and plane ride back home to Lexington. And things did get tight — relatively speaking — when the Jayhawks went on a 10-2 run early in the second half to cut the Wildcats’ lead down to 14 with 13:09 to go.

Rather than crumbling under the pressure at Allen Fieldhouse, Kentucky went on a quick 6-2 run of its own to push the lead back to 18, followed by another 12-4 run to extend the lead to 24, the largest of the game.

It was that second effort that killed Kansas’ momentum entirely and ultimately ended the game. With Jayhawks fans ready to bring the roof down at The Phog, the Wildcats threw haymaker after haymaker in the game’s most pivotal moments to secure the blowout victory.

TyTy Washington returns to the lineup

Kentucky’s diaper dandy returned to the starting lineup after a one-game absence, fighting through a left ankle injury suffered in the team’s loss at Auburn. Washington was unable to practice Thursday, putting his availability for Saturday evening in question.

After going through a light practice Friday and shootaround early Saturday, Washington was ultimately cleared to play and start. He couldn’t get his shot to fall in his return, scoring just two points on 1-9 shooting and 0-4 from three, but he was a strong contributor elsewhere, adding five assists, three rebounds and three steals in the win.

Jacob Toppin and Daimion Collins, who also missed practice Thursday, were both active, as well. Toppin finished with 11 points (4-4 FG) and two rebounds, while Collins did not see the floor.

Kentucky shuts down Ochai Agbaji

Coming in averaging 21.3 points on 52.7 percent shooting and 47 percent from three to go with 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest, Ochai Agbaji was considered a frontrunner for the John R. Wooden Award for the most outstanding player of the year. He entered the game with five games of 25 points or more, including a sensational 37-point effort in a double-overtime victory over Texas Tech earlier in the week.

Against Kentucky, though, Agbaji came back down to earth, finishing with just 13 points on 4-14 shooting and 2-6 from three to go with three assists, two rebounds and two turnovers.

In a by-committee defensive effort, Kellan Grady, TyTy Washington, Keion Brooks and Jacob Toppin all stepped up to limit the dynamic three-level scorer. And by taking out Kansas’ best player, the rest of the team fell apart, with Christian Braun (13 points on 5-11 FG, five rebounds, three assists) being the only real difference-maker for the Jayhawks.

Elsewhere, Kentucky dominated every matchup across the board.

The real NPOY stepped up in Oscar Tshiebwe

Kansas’ player of the year contender was unable to step up on the big stage. Kentucky’s, though, anchored the Wildcats in the post, finishing with 17 points on 8-13 shooting to go with 14 rebounds, four steals and one assist in 30 minutes.

He was a force on both ends, knocking down jumpers and finishing tough looks in the paint on offense while shutting down the Kansas frontcourt on defense. His four steals marks the seventh game he’s recorded at least three steals this season, pushing his total up to 36 in 21 games this year.

In what has become a game-by-game tradition, let’s take an updated look at Tshiebwe’s game log:

• 17 points and 20 rebounds vs. Duke
• 14 points and 20 rebounds vs. Robert Morris
• 24 points and 16 rebounds vs. Mount St. Mary’s
• 0 points and 10 rebounds vs. Ohio
• 12 points and 14 rebounds vs. Albany
• 12 points and 16 rebounds vs. North Florida
• 20 points and 16 rebounds vs. Central Michigan
• 23 points and 11 rebounds vs. Southern U
• 25 points and 7 rebounds at Notre Dame
• 16 points and 12 rebounds vs. North Carolina
• 14 points and 28 rebounds vs. Western Kentucky
• 13 points and 20 rebounds vs. Missouri
• 8 points and 13 rebounds at LSU
• 29 points and 17 rebounds vs. Georgia
• 30 points and 13 rebounds at Vanderbilt
• 9 points and 12 rebounds vs. Tennessee
• 8 points and 14 rebounds at Texas A&M
• 16 points and 14 rebounds at Auburn
• 21 points and 22 rebounds vs. Mississippi State
• 17 points and 14 rebounds at Kansas

Tshiebwe and Agbaji entered the day as two top contenders for player of the year, joining the likes of Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Johnny Davis (Wisconsin) and Drew Timme (Gonzaga) on the list.

Tshiebwe ended the day as the consensus favorite.

Kentucky up to No. 3 in KenPom

Just how significant was the win for the Wildcats? Kentucky moved up to No. 3 in the latest KenPom rankings, behind only Gonzaga (No. 1) and Baylor (No. 2).

In the latest update, UK graded out as the No. 4 offense and No. 19 defense in college basketball, hitting the top 20 in both categories.

What’s the significance of the KenPom numbers? Eight of the last nine national champions were ranked in the top 10 in January, with UConn being the lone exception in 2014. Having a top-20 offense and defense has been a direct correlation to Final Four runs over the last two decades.

With a blowout victory in one of the most hostile environments in college basketball, Kentucky’s clearly got something special brewing right now.