Kentucky is for a step up in competition on Tuesday.It’s no slight to Grand Canyon or a Buffalo team that outplayed UK for 20 minutes, but Kansas is at a different level.Entering the test against the Jayhawks, John Calipari sees two ways it can go.”If we play like we did in the first half last game we will get smashed,” Calipari said. “If we play like we did in the second half we have a chance because you have to fight on every possession.”UK got a lesson in exactly that in the aforementioned matchup with Buffalo.The Cats (2-0) went into the break down 38-33, needing halftime to refocus after a first half in which Coach Cal said they were “disconnected.” UK would overcome the slow start with a dominant second half, holding Buffalo to 14 points in four field goals in a 71-52 win.Ahead of Tuesday’s matchup with No. 5 Kansas (1-0) at approximately 9:30 p.m. in Indianapolis, the Cats know what’s in store for them if they pull that Jekyll and Hyde act again.”It is not like they didn’t come to play; it was just that the other team came like a pack of hungry dogs,” Calipari said. “Well, then you can’t just say this is good enough. We are learning that. When we play with great energy and match the other team or go beyond the other team, we are long and athletic. But if they are blowing us out of the water with their energy it is going to look like it did.”Though Kansas doesn’t match UK’s depth, eight Jayhawks played 16 minutes or more in a season-opening 69-59 win over UC Santa Barbara, three of them freshmen and three sophomores. Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor, both juniors, provide the experience for Kansas, while freshman Devonte’ Graham came off the bench and led the Jayhawks with 14 points in 26 minutes.”They are running their stuff,” Calipari said. “They are doing a terrific job of doing what they do. I mean, they play a style and they play it well. They are playing hard and pressing and denying. They are pushing up on defense and trapping randomly at times. They are trapping pick and rolls. They are being very, very aggressive.”This marks the fourth edition of the State Farm Champions Classic and the second UK-KU matchup in the event, which Kentucky won 75-65 en route to the 2011-12 national title. Each of the last three years, Coach Cal talked of the Champions Classic game being too early for his young team. This year, he’s singing a new tune.”We are in a little different position than we have been in the past, where we have a brand-new team and trying to get your team together,” Calipari said. “This team needs to be challenged to see where we are. This is going to be one of those kinds of games.”The stage, as well as the opponent, will dictate that.The game will follow a matchup between No. 2 Duke and No. 19 Michigan State in a doubleheader played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the home of the Indiana Pacers. It should come as surprise that both will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.”It’s going to be crazy,” Dakari Johnson said on Sunday. “I’m thinking it’s going to be a big crowd. But we can’t focus on the atmosphere. We have to go out there – it’s two teams playing on the court – and we just have to compete.”Doing that will be even more of a challenge for freshmen Trey Lyles, who will be returning to his hometown to play in just the third matchup between ranked teams in college basketball this season and the first between top-five squads. Lyles will also be playing in the same building where he led Arsenal Tech to the first state title in the high school’s history.”It’s been on my mind,” Lyles said. “It’s going to be fun. I get to play in front of family and friends. It’s going to be a good time.”Managing emotions will be a challenge for Lyles, who’s coming off a game in which he sparked a big second half with five points within a minute after halftime against Buffalo. He’ll want to duplicate that effort on Tuesday without overdoing it.”I just gotta go out there and do whatever is best for the team, playing defense and all that kind of stuff, whatever Coach asks of me,” Lyles said. “It’s just another game and we gotta approach it that way and approach it with a lot of energy.”UK lacked that energy in last year’s Champions Classic, which led to a 10-point deficit within four minutes against Michigan State. The Cats return seven players who saw the floor in that game, but there’s still no guarantee that translates. “We could start out 10-0 the same way and it wasn’t 10-0 we were up, it was 10-0 I had to call two timeouts to get it settled down,” Calipari said. “I would hope these veterans understand what they are walking into, but teams are going to play like their life depends on it and we have to do the same.”As 2013-14 proved, these things don’t happen overnight.”Last year was, what, March 1 when we answered questions,” Calipari said. “It took that long! There were five freshmen. ‘Oh, but they’re really good. You just roll out the balls. They should just win.’ This stuff’s hard, man. This stuff is hard. Now, I love it. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I wouldn’t it any other way for our kids.”