TyTy Washington was far from great. He took nine shots, missed eight of them and finished with just two points. A triumphant return, it was not.
But he played!
Which meant Kentucky was able to start and finish with its lethal backcourt healthy and available. And what’s becoming increasingly clear as this season progresses is that the Wildcats are capable of beating anybody — and perhaps anybody badly — when their lethal backcourt is healthy and available.
What a performance.
Final score: Kentucky 80, Kansas 62.
The Wildcats led by as many as 24 points on the road and never let Kansas get closer than 14 points in the second half. They exposed the Jayhawks’ just-OK defense while shooting 50.8% from the field. The blowout victory improved UK to 17-4 overall — including a 14-2 record when both Washington and Sahvir Wheeler are healthy enough to start and finish.
“We’ve won a lot of games against ranked teams — all kinds of different ways,” Kentucky coach John Calipari told reporters afterward. “I’ve done this a long time, and I’ve been in many of these games on the road where it’s Game Day. I told the team, ‘All the pressure is on the other team. If you play for 40 minutes, watch what happens.'”
Kentucky’s résumé now includes a 29-point win over North Carolina inside T-Mobile Arena, a 28-point win over Tennessee inside Rupp Arena, and an 18-point win over Kansas inside Allen Fieldhouse. When the Wildcats are good, they’re really good. And that’s among the reasons they’ve moved to No. 3 in Sunday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Auburn remains No. 1 for the 19th consecutive day.
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