It was a lot of fun to watch the Kansas basketball team dismantle Kentucky in the Champions Classic as easily as it did. Although KU won easily against Fordham and Middle Tennessee, the Jayhawks had lost two home exhibition games against Louisville and Duke.
No one knew exactly what to expect from Kansas against Kentucky, especially after the loss of Melvin Council Jr., a leader for this team. They survived that loss surprisingly well, as several players picked up the slack.
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The Jayhawks did so many things well on Tuesday. They outrebounded the Wildcats 40-35. KU had 24 assists on 32 made shots, a terrific percentage. They were demons on defense, making Kentucky uncomfortable all night long. KU also played at a quick pace, yet only had 10 turnovers on the night.
Still, there were a few areas in which Kansas needs to get better. These are issues that have been present since the beginning of the season. This isn't being nitpicky; they were fantastic on Tuesday but still had some issues that were covered up by the overall performance.
NO. 15 KANSAS ROUTS NO. 24 KENTUCKY 🤯
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 11, 2026
The Jayhawks put up a dominant display to close out the 2026 Champions Classic 🤩 pic.twitter.com/wef117WcRZ
4 areas Kansas basketball could still improve on moving forward
No. 1: Three-point shooting
At first glance, Kansas shot decently from behind the arc against Kentucky. They were 10-26 for 38.4 percent. If you remove the shots taken by Tre White and Tyran Stokes, who combined to go 8-for-26, the rest of the team went 2-for-10.
The biggest culprits were Leroy Blyden Jr. and Taylen Kinney, who combined to go 1-for-8 from deep. These two are going to see plenty of minutes, especially with Council out, and they both need to find more consistency from three-point range. This also leads right to the next area needing improvement.
No. 2: Guard shooting
Not only did Kinney and Blyden struggle from beyond the arc, but they also struggled to shoot from everywhere. They combined to go just three-for-19 on the night. The Jayhawks can ill afford these two to take so many shots and make so few.
Dennis Parker Jr. and Trent Perry didn't out much either, combining to go 1-for-3, with the one being a fast-break dunk by Perry.
As a team, KU shot 46.4 percent, which would be acceptable most nights, but Stokes, White, and Trey Kaufman-Renn combined to go 23-for-40. The rest of the team was just 9-for-29, or 31 percent. The Jayhawks can't rely on White, Stokes, and Kaufman-Renn to carry such a disportoinate load every game.
No. 3: Free-throw shooting
Noticing a trend yet? Kansas shot a respectable, but not great, 65.2 percent from the line. Again, White and Stokes carried too much of that burden. They went 7-for-7, and the rest of the team just 8-for-16.
In the three games of the regular season, KU has shot just 57.3 percent from the line. This is a problem that has carried over from the three preseason games and hopefully can be rectified soon. There will be close games in the future, and the Jayhawks will need to be much better from the line.
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No. 4: Guarding the post
This was the only area on defense where Kansas had some issues against Kentucky. They were covered up in the first half when Kentucky center Malachi Moreno was in foul trouble. In the second half, however, Moreno had his way, especially late. Kentucy would clear a side out, let Moreno post up, get him the ball, and let him work his way to the basket.
For all the great things Kaufman-Renn offers Kansas, he is not a true post player, and when he is in the game, KU is oversized. He's a cerebral player and not overly physical. Against bigger, athletic post players, Kaufman-Renn will probably struggle.
Christian Reeves is taller, but again, he isn't very physical. He is good at putting himself in a good position for rebounds, and he's active. Still, Moreno had little issue backing him down on the post.
Moreno finished with 19 points, going 8-for-11 from the field. Many of the points came late when he was posting up against Kaufman-Renn or Reeves one-on-one. Self may have to figure out how to get them some help down on the post.
Stokes and White had fantastic games, but others like Blyden, Kaufman-Renn, and Kinney certainly helped out in numerous other ways. It was a team win all the way. Still, the Jayhawks do have a few kinks to work out, and if they do, they will be extremely difficult to beat.
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