Hawking Points: Kansas Pulls Off 89-84 Comeback Against Kentucky

Dickinson goes off as the Jayhawks take the win in the Champions Classic.

It was a back-and-forth slugfest against two heavyweight opponents in game two of the Champions Classic, but the Kansas Jayhawks overcame a big early deficit to beat Kentucky 89-84.

Key Plays

If you had Dajuan Harris hitting a three for the first points of the game, go ahead and head to Vegas. KJ Adams got an easy bucket and Hunter Dickinson put back a miss to go up 7-0 to start the game. Adams stole the ball on the next possession and found Elmarko Jackson, who was fouled on a drive. He hit both and it was 9-0 2:40 into the game before Kentucky knocked down a three to get on the board.

The game got a bit wild after that, both teams trying to run and neither team able to make shots. Kentucky tied the game at 11 with a Tre Mitchell three and both teams couldn’t stop turning the ball over. Kevin McCullar hit a free throw, Harris found Jackson for a transition layup, Adams blocked a Wildcats shot, and then Jackson found McCullar for an easy layup to go on a 5-0 run. Then Kentucky hit two straight threes to take the first lead of the game.

If you read the preview, you know that Kentucky has not been a good three-point shooting team outside of Antonio Reeves. In the first two games, non-Reeves players were shooting 26%. Well, UK wasn’t missing early. Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham each had multiple threes early and the Wildcats made seven of their first 15 to take a 30-27 lead before Harris drained his second three.

But on the next possession, Dillingham hit another and single-handedly kept Kentucky in front, scoring 16 points in the first 15 minutes of the game and putting the Wildcats up by six. It was Adams who got Kansas back within three on back-to-back dunks but Kentucky always had an answer, taking a 43-34 lead, UK’s largest of the game. It continued to go back for Kansas, who looked to be outworked until the final minute, when Dickison hit a pair of free throws and then sank a three at the buzzer to be down just 48-41 at the half.

The second half started about as poorly as it could for Kansas. The sloppiness continued on KU’s part, Harris picked up his third foul, and Kentucky quickly grew the lead to 12 before Harris drew an and-one. UK took its largest lead at 14 and it was again Harris who drained a three to stop the bleeding.

Then Dickinson got a put-back and-one to cut the Kentucky lead to 60-52. And after two missed free throws from the Wildcats, Adams got his own and-one on a pick and roll – but missed the free throw – to put Kansas down six before Adams dunked it again off an airball to be down four. Then Harris found Dickinson on an alley-oop to make it 62-60. UK airballed the next possession and Dickinson tipped in a Harris miss to tie it with 11:50 left in the game.

After another Kentucky miss, Adams took the ball in transition and found McCullar for an and-one to give Kansas the first lead of the second half. It was a 16-2 Jayhawk run over a little less than four minutes before Reeves drained a three to tie it.

Dillingham picked up his fourth foul with 10 minutes left and the two teams traded blows and the lead over the next few minutes. McCullar was then called for his fourth on a missed shot with 7:18 left.

With McCullar and Dickinson on the bench getting a breather, Harris got his pass knocked away and it led to an and-one by Reeves to give Kentucky the edge 76-72. Adams missed two free throws and then Sheppard went straight to the rim, causing Self to call a timeout. Back-to-back Kentucky turnovers allowed the Jayhawks to climb back to down three. But a weak foul call on Adams and then a loose ball on the next possession fouled him out.

Harris hit back-to-back threes – going 5-5 from deep – for 21 points to keep Kansas down two. He then was fouled on the next possession to tie the game with 2:35 left. A Kentucky airball was followed by a Tre Mitchell foul on Dickinson, who hit both of them to give KU a 85-83 lead with two minutes left. After a Mitchell free throw, Dickinson went to work again to put KU up three. Reeves missed a three and Dickinson got the board.

Kentucky got the ball back with 18 seconds left and Sheppard took a highly contested three that missed the mark. Jamari McDowell – who came in after Adams fouled out – grabbed the board and went to the line to ice the game, hitting both free throws to seal the win.

Eye-Catching Stat Lines

Dickinson made the absolute most of his first big moment as a Jayhawk. He set a career high in rebounds and became the first player in the Champions Classic to post a 20/20 game. Dickinson finished with 27 points and 21 rebounds.

It was Harris who battled with Dickinson for the most points in a game, which is an incredible statement to type after Harris didn’t attempt a shot in the opener. Harris ended with 23 points on 7-12 shooting – and 5-6 from three – and seven assists.

Meanwhile, McCullar recorded a triple double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists and Adams also finished in double figures with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block.

The three-point shooting shifted from the first half to the second, as Kentucky hit nine of 23 in the first half to Kansas’ 3-11. But the Jayhawks would sink 3-7 in the second half while the Wildcats struggled, making just 3-15.

Kansas again showed its passing prowess, recording 22 assists on 28 made field goals.

Areas of Improvement

Kansas’ turnovers shown more glaringly against a Kentucky team that does a really good job of taking care of the ball. KU had five turnovers early and looked sloppy trying to force passes. You don’t want to take away the aggressiveness, but ideally that gets cleaned up throughout the year.

Kentucky just absolutely dominated Kansas on the offensive glass. The Jayhawks didn’t look too interested in blocking out and Kentucky just out-hustled Kansas to loose balls on long rebounds.

The shot selection was also spotty, especially in the first half. Kansas settled for early midrange jump shots and only hit 42% of them in the first half. It got cleaned up in the second half, but there’s still the question of the two guard. Jackson got beat repeatedly on defense and Nick Timberlake was non-existent.

Takeaways

This was a gutsy performance for a November game. Kansas could have easily fallen apart when Kentucky got up 14, but KU clawed back and it was a variety of players making it happen. Kentucky will be one of the most athletic teams Kansas faces all year, so it was a good test for the Jayhawks to have to handle that size and athleticism.

And of course, Dickinson has placed himself squarely in the middle of the early season National Player of the Year conversation.