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Jayhawks Snatch Cats From Unbeaten Tracks, 83-66
Twelve years of frustration went down the tube in Lawrence. Kansas, Saturday night when the Kansas Jayhawks posted an 83-66 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats, the Jayhawks' first win in the series since December of 1973.
Kansas, off to a fast 8-1 start and ranked among the nation's top five in most polls, flashed signs of brilliance throughout the game and gave every indication it intends to be a dominant force in the months ahead.
Larry Brown and his charges wasted no time around the launching pad. getting off to a 10-0 lead before the Cats could get on the board with an Ed Davender free throw at the 14:42 mark of the first half.
Kentucky went almost seven minutes before it finally posted its first field goal, the front-end of a three-point play by reserve Robert Lock cut a 14-1 Kansas lead to 14-4.
"For a while there, it look like a Kentucky game I had witnessed before," said Kentucky Coach Eddie Sutton, referring to the Cats' horrendous second-half shooting against Georgetown in the 1984 NCAA Final Four."
"We were getting some good shots there at the beginning," said Sutton, "Kenny's first three shots were good shots, they just weren't falling." Sutton wasn't far from wrong on the comparisons. The Wildcats were hitting only 12.5 percent when Lock hit his layup as UK missed its first seven field goal attempts of the game.
Kansas enjoyed just the opposite, hitting a blistering 77.7 percent the first eight minutes while finding the range seven of nine times.
That, combined with some questionable officiating calls, was all Kansas needed to build a margin which proved insurmountable. From the 14-4 margin, Kansas moved on top by 20-6 before Kentucky finally regrouped and mounted a spirited comeback try late in the half.
Danny Manning, the talented 6-10 sophomore, once again proved to be a knife in Kentucky's side just as he was a year ago in Louisville when Kentucky rallied for a 92-89 victory.
Manning did just about what he wanted to, scoring 11 first half points. But it wasn't a one-man show by any yardstick. Senior Ron Kellogg taught UK's guards a lesson or two as he exploded for 11 first-half points and his running mate, Calvin Thompson tacked another 10 first half points on the board.
Kentucky made its most serious bid of the night to get back in the game in the final 10 minutes of the first hall.
Forced to go without junior Winston Bennett who went to the bench at 13:30 with three personal fouls, UK began chipping away at the huge Kansas lead. Kentucky narrowed the deficit into single digits when Ed Davender made a nice steal and drove the length of the floor for a layup. At that point, UK trailed 20-12 with 8:59 to go in the half.
Byrd Underneath; Gets A Helping Hand
The lead stayed between the 10 and 12 points until the final three minutes of the half when Kenny Walker. James Blackmon and Roger Harden went to work.
Walker canned a pair of free throws to slice the lead to 38-30 at 1:26. Kellogg put Kansas back up by ten on a driving scoop which somehow found its way inside the basket, but Blackmon got that back on a driving layup.
With 0:33 left in the half, Kellogg was charged with fouling a Kentucky player. Walker first went to the line, but officials changed their mind and put Harden on the stripe after a protest from the Kansas bench.
What Kansas was unaware of is the fact that Harden is one of the team's best free throw shooters. Ironically, he had not shot a single free throw this season prior to the Kansas protest. He canned both tries and UK trailed by 40-34.
Kentucky had an opportunity to get within four, but a turnover prevented the Cats from getting a shot off. Archie Marshall's offensive board put-back gave Kansas a 42-34 halftimc lead and Kentucky was to never get that close again.
Davender On The Loose
Blackmon
Perfect Form