Sunday Quickies: Win Over Kansas Edition

The Cats are officially on a roll! The Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 81-73 in a tough game in Rupp Arena.

Nothing was working in the first half and the Cats found themselves down 10 points. Reid Travis broke out and became UK’s only scoring option, willing them to a 33-30 deficit at halftime.

PJ Washington dominated the second half as much as Travis dominated the first. And he had some help from Keldon Johnson and Ashton Hagans as well. Travis, Washington, and Johnson all ended the night with a double-double.

Kentucky faced four of the top programs in the history of college basketball, the Duke Blue Devils, Kansas, North Carolina Tar Heels, and the Louisville Cardinals, and went 3-1.

There are 12 games left in the SEC and more chances to add to their wins against top 25 opponents. Their NCAA Tournament has a chance to be second to none.

Tweets of the Day

Brad Calipari is taking some major heat for his wardrobe last night, and rightfully so, but none of that heat comes close to what he got from his big sister.

Are those stats good? I think they’re good.

Last night was PJ’s fourth straight game scoring in double figures. John Calipari said that when PJ plays like he did last night, he’s one of the best in the country. YUP.

Quickies

UK’s bigs overpowered Kansas | Lexington Herald Leader- John Calipari had a game plan and even though it wasn’t working as well in the first half he never deviated from it. He fed the ball to Reid Travis and PJ Washington and forced Kansas to try to guard them with smaller players. Didn’t work.

Yesterday I linked an article from Rock Chalk Talk and the three players they were worried about all had big games. I think Cal knows what he’s doing.

Cats hit the Trifecta | WDRB- Three straight wins against top 25 teams and three players double-doubles.

Washington and Lawson like family | Cats Pause- Dedric Lawson called PJ Washington his little brother during the Jayhawks postgame presser. The players are good friends and Lawson is a fantastic player in his own right. Cal threw everything and the kitchen sink at him and he still came away with a double-double of his own.

UK back in the Final Four conversation | CBS- Kentucky has earned every right to be back in this conversation. The pieces are fitting and the seed projections continue to climb. They are firmly a two seed right now and there’s still a chance for a one.

Kentucky moving up in the Power Rankings | ESPN- It took Kentucky beating Kansas but they are finally starting to get some due respect from the sports writers that were continuously ranking UNC ahead of them.

Sizing up Kentucky’s win | Sporting News- It was all about size for the Cats. PJ Washington was matched up against a guard most of the night and he more than took advantage of it, even as Kansas tried to collapse on him.

Cats send a message with win | USA Today- The rest of college basketball is getting that message loud and clear. Kentucky has two road games against unranked SEC teams. Now is not the time to slip up. I like this team’s focus and I don’t think that will happen.

Winners and Losers in SEC/Big 12 Showdown | CBS- The SEC was the big loser last night as the conference fell to the Big 12 4-6. It’s a shame that three of the best teams in the conference, LSU, Auburn, and Mississippi State, were not included in the challenge. Those numbers may have been much different.

Normally Jay Bilas is very good calling games, but it seemed like he annoyed BBN last night. He continually called Kentucky soft (I didn’t think they were soft at all) and he interviewed a Kansas player for his full court interview in Rupp Arena instead of a Kentucky player.

Was Bilas fair or foul last night?