KU’s Bill Self, Kentucky’s John Calipari to face off again. Here’s the series history
Kansas’ men’s basketball team, which trails Kentucky 23-9 in head-to-head matchups, started to narrow the gap on UK by winning three straight games in the series in 2016 and 2017.
John Calipari’s Wildcats halted their mini-slide in the last meeting, however, downing the Jayhawks 71-63 on Jan. 26, 2019 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
The eight-point victory gave Calipari a 5-4 record in games coached against Bill Self — 4-3 at Kentucky and 1-1 at Memphis. His Tigers beat Self’s Illinois team in 2002 and lost to Self’s Jayhawks in the 2008 NCAA championship game.
Their personal rivalry continues Tuesday when the Jayhawks and Wildcats meet in the Champions Classic for the fourth time (UK is 2-1 in the event vs. KU).
Tipoff is 8:30 p.m. at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis with a live broadcast on ESPN.
Self in his 18 seasons at KU is 3-0 against Wildcats teams coached by Tubby Smith and 3-4 versus squads led by Calipari for an overall 6-4 mark against UK.
Self’s KU teams have fared much better against the Wildcats than squads of his five predecessors. Roy Williams went 1-3 versus UK. Larry Brown was 1-2, Ted Owens 1-12, Dick Harp 0-1 and Phog Allen 0-1.
All in all, it’s been an exciting set of games between the bluebloods.
“Our players live to play in these types of games. Kentucky players do as well. There is something very competitive when you get Kentucky and Kansas together,” Self said two seasons ago of the highly-anticipated games between the two winningest programs in hoops history.
On Monday, Self said of the 1-1 squads tangling in the second week of the regular season: “The reality is here. We are not the team we will be and Kentucky is not the team they will be (later in season). This particular game will be such a prideful game. I know our guys will really look forward to competing against them. I know their guys will as well.”
Kentucky, which will be playing KU for the eighth time in the past 10 seasons, as a program has the most wins in NCAA history (2,319 against 713 losses). KU is second all time with 2,303 wins (against 863 losses).
The two coaches started their careers at KU. Self was a graduate assistant at Kansas under Larry Brown in 1985-86. Calipari was an assistant coach at Kansas from 1982-85, working for Ted Owens and Brown in that span.
Both schools have such passionate fan bases that’s it’s been fitting to play so many times through history.
“This matchup of bluebloods is something special,” KU redshirt freshman wing Jalen Wilson said after KU’s 94-72 win over Saint Joseph’s on Friday in Florida. “There’s a lot of pride involved because of the history of the schools. Everybody will be amped up to play,” he added.
“They are a great team, athletic on the wing. They’re a young team but still it’s going to be Kansas versus Kentucky, their first go-round with a blueblood (this season),” KU junior Ochai Agbaji said Monday. “I know they’ll be ready. We’ll be ready so it is going to be a high-level game,” he added.
Here’s a quick look at the nine head-to-head matchups between Calipari and Self coached teams:
Kentucky 71, Kansas 63, Jan. 26, 2019, Lexington, Kentucky: P.J. Washington scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to pace the No. 8-ranked Wildcats past No. 9 KU, in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge.
Reid Travis scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and Keldon Johnson also posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards for UK.
KU’s Dedric Lawson scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for his NCAA-leading 14th double-double of the season.
Lawson had 11 points and 11 rebounds and KU led by three at halftime. After Ochai Agbaji hit two free throws to tie the game at 44, UK went on an 8-0 run and did not trail down the stretch.
Freshman guard Quentin Grimes hit three threes and scored 13 points in his KU debut.
The Wildcats outrebounded Kansas 49-36 including 23-11 in the second half. Kentucky also hit 17 of 23 free throws to KU’s 8 of 11.
“Our guys competed.” Lawson said. “Coach Self said he wasn’t discouraged with us, just bonehead plays at the end.”
Kansas 65, Kentucky 61, Nov. 14, 2017, Chicago: Svi Mykhailiuk swished three three-pointers and scored 17 points and Devonté Graham converted the clinching free throws as No. 4 KU defeated No. 7 Kentucky at the Champions Classic. Udoka Azubuike scored 13 points, Malik Newman 12 and Devonté Graham 11 for KU.
Kevin Knox hit three threes and scored 20 points while Hamidou Diallo had 14 for Kentucky.
Graham — he hit 3 of 14 shots and committed five turnovers — connected on two free throws with 7.1 seconds left.
“It was a great grind-it-out win,” Self said. “We dealt with some stuff today and certainly to basically play six guys and be able to pull that off when we were totally gassed, I’m really proud of my team.”
KU announced before the game that freshman Billy Preston would not play because of an eligibility issue that wiped out his entire one-and-done season at Kansas.
Kansas 79, Kentucky 73, Jan. 28, 2017, Lexington, Kentucky: Frank Mason scored 21 points — 13 the second half — while Josh Jackson had 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace No. 2 KU past No. 4 UK in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. KU went 0 for 8 from three and trailed by 12 points late in the first half, then went 5 for 11 from beyond the arc after the break.
Landen Lucas scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds while Graham had 12 points and seven boards. Malik Monk and Derek Willis scored 18 points apiece, while Isaiah Briscoe had 12 points and De’Aaron Fox 10 for UK.
Kentucky which trailed by 10 points with 4:41 left, cut the deficit to four points before Mykhailiuk’s two free throws at :16 assured victory.
Kansas 90, Kentucky 84, OT, Jan. 30, 2016, Lawrence: Wayne Selden scored 33 points, including seven in overtime and the No. 4-ranked Jayhawks held off the No. 20 Wildcats in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
“It’s as good a game as he’s played since he’s been here,” Self said of Selden, a junior at the time.
Kentucky led by eight points midway through the second half before Self called for a zone defense. Perry Ellis made the second of two free throws to tie the game, 76-76, with nine seconds left in regulation and Tyler Ulis fumbled the ball at the other end before Kentucky could attempt a shot.
Mason scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Graham added 11 points for the Jayhawks. Ulis finished with a career-high 26 points and eight assists. Jamal Murray added 15 points. Alex Poythress had 13 and Briscoe 12.
Kentucky 72, Kansas 40, Nov. 18, 2014, Indianapolis: Top-ranked Kentucky clobbered the No. 5 Jayhawks in the Champions Classic despite having just two players score in double figures.
Dakari Johnson scored 11 points and Andrew Harrison 10 while Willie Cauley-Stein added seven points and 10 rebounds. Selden led the Jayhawks with nine points. Cliff Alexander finished with eight. The Jayhawks made only 11 baskets — eight in the first half, three in the second. They shot just 19.6% from the field and were 3 of 15 on three-pointers.
Self called it a “beatdown right from the beginning.”
Kentucky 67, Kansas 59, April 2, 2012, New Orleans: Anthony Davis scored six points on 1-of-10 shooting with 16 rebounds and six blocks in the NCAA championship game. Doron Lamb, who scored 22 points, hit back-to-back three-pointers that put Kentucky up by 16 points with 10 minutes left. KU trailed by five with 1:37 left. But Kentucky made five free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Tyshawn Taylor scored 19 points, while Thomas Robinson had 18 points and 17 rebounds for KU.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 11 points the first half to give UK a 41-27 lead.
“I wanted everybody to see, we were the best team this season,” Calipari said. “I wanted this to be one for the ages.”
Kentucky 75, Kansas 65, Nov. 15, 2011, New York: Lamb scored 17 points and Terrence Jones 15 in the No. 2-ranked Wildcats’ win over No. 12 KU at the Champions Classic. Davis contributed 14 points and blocked seven shots, while Kidd-Gilchrist had 12 points and nine boards. Kentucky blocked 13 shots and held the Jayhawks to 33.9%shooting. Taylor scored 22 points, while Robinson added 11 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 3:31 remaining.
“They had a will to win. That’s what I wanted to see,” Calipari said. “That’s the hardest thing to teach in what we do, a will to win. This team seems to have that.”
Kansas 75, Memphis 68 (OT), April 7, 2008, San Antonio: KU, which trailed, 60-51, with 2:12 left in regulation, chipped away at the huge deficit and caught the Tigers, 63-63, on a three-pointer by Mario Chalmers with 2.1 seconds left. The Jayhawks rolled, 12-5 in overtime, to claim the NCAA title.“I had a good look at it. When it left my hands it felt like it was good, and it just went in,” Chalmers said of what has been called the biggest shot in school history.
Noted Calipari: “Ten seconds to go, we’re thinking we’re national champs, all of a sudden a kid makes a shot, and we’re not.”
Memphis 77, Illinois 74, Dec. 28, 2002, Memphis: Chris Massie scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his first game of the season as unranked Memphis held off Self’s No. 7-ranked Illinois team. Before beating Illinois, Memphis had suffered 14 straight losses to teams in the top 25. Illinois was the first top 25 team to play at the Memphis Pyramid since Calipari joined the Tigers for the 2000-01 season. Brian Cook led Illinois with 21 points.
