John Calipari did not hold back after his Kentucky Wildcats lost 65-62 to the Kansas Jayhawks at the State Farm Champions Classic in Indianapolis on Tuesday night.
Kentucky led 35-29 at halftime before being outscored in the second half and losing the game. The Wildcats scored just 27 points in the second half on 8/30 shooting, including 2/14 on threes. Jalen Wilson alone scored 21 points on 7/12 shooting for Kansas in the second half.
“If I was Bill Self, I’d be so happy, because my team was held to 29 percent from the floor and 23 percent from the three and WE WIN,” Calipari said of the Jayhawks. “I love those games, just to slog it out. Let me tell you what they did in the second half: they punked us.”
Both coaches lamented the quality of play in the game. Kansas coach Bill Self said the contest felt more like a scrimmage between the teams due to their errors. Kentucky turned the ball over 16 times and Kansas 11. Kansas shot 29.9 percent from the field, compared to 36.1 percent for Kentucky.
The quality of play to begin the season will likely be low due to the interruptions for programs because of COVID-19 issues. Both coaches seemed to feel that was the case on Tuesday night.
