week 2 game of the week: Kansas vs. kentucky
This week’s game of the week came early during the Champions Classic on Tuesday night when Kansas took on Kentucky at the United Center in Chicago. In a 40-minute brawl, #1 Kansas came out on top against #17 Kentucky 89-84.
The Jayhawks came out hot, jumping out to an early 11-3 lead after a DaJuan Harris 3 and Hunter Dickinson establishing himself early. Then, Kentucky went on an 8-0 run to tie it behind a couple good passes from Rob Dillingham and a layup of his own.
The contest went back and forth for the remainder of the half, both teams showing they can truly compete for a national title. The Jayhawks and Wildcats were making shots from the perimeter, playing solid defense, and getting out in transition. This was the fast-paced match we were all expecting.
A late 17-9 run by Kentucky put them into the half with a 48-41 lead, which at least I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t think this matchup was going to be too close because of the depth of Kansas mixed with the inexperienced core of Kentucky. But, wow was I wrong. Rob Dillingham was playing like one of the better point guards in the nation, Tre Mitchell was taking no time getting adjusted to John Calipari’s offense, and pleasant surprise Reed Sheppard was able to contribute with his outside shooting.
The second half kept the same energy, a back and forth and up-tempo contest. I still couldn’t believe the Wildcats had a real shot at beating the #1 team in the land this early in the season. I was thoroughly impressed.
Towards the end, it became known the Cats would have no way of stopping Hunter Dickinson and his versatility. It eventually became too much for UK as he was a threat from the 3-point line, causing the defense to stretch, but he could also establish early position in the post which the UK bigs had real trouble containing. The preseason All-American finished with 27 points and a ridiculous 21 rebounds while going 8-12 from the field and 10-11 from the charity stripe. Add in his lone 3-point make and 3 steals, and we saw how good Dickinson really is.
What makes KU so scary is their balanced scoring attack and how good they can be regardless if their top guy is off. KJ Adams went for 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals, and Kevin McCullar tallied 12 points and 10 boards.
The most exciting guy for Bill Self was definitely DaJuan Harris. Harris went off for 23 points and 7 assists while hitting 5 ones from deep. Up until this contest, Harris had only scored 16 points on the season through the team’s first three games. If he can be a consistent offensive threat, this team may just be unstoppable. I want to see DaJuan’s confidence continue to excel on the offensive side of the floor, because we know what we can do as a passer, floor general, and defender.
As for the Wildcats, this team looks far beyond their years. As I said earlier, Rob Dillingham looks special. Coming off the bench, he dropped 18 points and 3 assists, and Reed Sheppard went for 13 also off the bench going 3-4 from 3-point range.
The Wildcat vets came to play as well. Antonio Reeves led the team in scoring with 24, and Tre Mitchell, the West Virginia transfer, had 8 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks of his own.
We may have just watched the two best offensive teams in the nation go head-to-head. At least I have not seen two more consistent offenses over a 40-minute period than these two squads. Kansas seriously lacks any weakness, at least any that I have seen so far. Obviously, experience is always going to be a factor in college basketball, but this Kentucky team looks like the one that can bring Calipari out of the rut he’s been in lately with mediocrity.
