LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Freshman Brandon Rush had career highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double and Kansas handed No. 19 Kentucky its worst loss in coach Tubby Smith’s nine seasons, 73-46 Saturday.
Russell Robinson added 12 points and C.J. Giles added 10 for Kansas (9-4), which won its sixth straight, broke Kentucky’s four-game winning streak and beat a ranked team for the first time in three tries this season.
The Wildcats’ only other loss of more than 20 points under Smith came earlier this season, in a 79-53 defeat at Indiana on Dec. 10.
The Jayhawks led 41-19 at halftime behind 16 points from Rush, and were up by as many as 32 points in the second half.
It was the first meeting between the two teams in Lawrence since Kansas blew out the Wildcats 150-95 on Dec. 9, 1989 – a school scoring record for the Jayhawks and still the second-worst defeat in Kentucky history.
This one is likely to stick in the Wildcats’ memories, too – not for how well Kansas played on offense, but for how poorly Kentucky (10-4) performed in its lowest-scoring game since a 46-45 loss to Michigan State on Dec. 16, 2000.
The Wildcats were 15-for-62 from the field on Saturday, missing their first 13 shots from long range and not recording an assist until Rajan Rondo fed Ravi Moss for Kentucky’s first 3-pointer with 14:20 left in the game.
They finished with five assists, three by Rondo, and shot 24 percent from the field.
Kentucky missed 17 of its first 20 shots, going 0-for-7 from outside the arc over that span, and didn’t break into double digits until Joe Crawford connected from the lane with just over 6 minutes left in the first half.
Kansas led 25-10 after Crawford’s basket – and Rush had single-handedly outscored Kentucky 11-10. The Wildcats didn’t get ahead of him for good, 18-16, until Rondo hit two free throws with 1:14 left in the first half.
Rondo and Crawford had nine points each for Kentucky – the first time this year the Wildcats have gone without a double-digit scorer.
With the score tied at 4 almost four minutes into the game, Rush tracked down an offensive rebound after a flurry of misses and scored.
He followed that up with a 3-pointer on Kansas’ next possession, Mario Chalmers added an assist and a layup in quick succession, and the Jayhawks were off on a 19-4 run that put them up 25-8 with just over 6 1/2 minutes left in the half.
Had the Jayhawks made a few more defensive rebounds, Kentucky would have scored just four points in the first 15 minutes. Three of the Wildcats’ first five field goals and their first two free throws came after they were able to rebound their own misses.
An 8-0 run, capped by two baskets by Giles, put Kansas up 66-34 with just under 8 1/2 minutes left in the game.
