Kentucky KO's No. 5 Kansas 80-62 Behind 27 from Keion Brooks
No. 12 Kentucky was not challenged in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge Saturday night at No. 5 Kansas as it slapped the Jayhawks around for an 80-62 win at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.
"That team that we played tonight could win it all," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "That was a great basketball team we played."
Kentucky (17-4) dominated the Jayhawks (17-3) throughout the game, including on the boards with a 41-29 advantage.
The Wildcats beat a top five team for the first time since 2014 when it beat No. 4 Louisville.
Kansas did not live up to its end of the billing in the main event of the clash between conferences.
The Jayhawks had no answer for forward Keion Brooks Jr., who led all scorers with 27 points and added eight rebounds.
"We wanted to see how good we were, and we went in and made a statement tonight," Brooks said.
Brooks also settled a bit of a score with Self, who cut him from the Under 18 USA Basketball Team in 2018.
"You still that pissed at me because we didn't pick you for the squad," Self asked Brooks after the game.
Forward Oscar Tshiebwe added 17 points, 14 rebounds and four steals for the Wildcats. Guard Kellan Grady added 12 points, while forward Jacob Toppin scored 11.
Point guard TyTy Washington returned for Kentucky after missing a game last week because of an ankle injury and showed rust from the field, missing eight of nine shots. But he had five assists and three steals to go with two points.
Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun each scored 13 for Kansas.