INDIANAPOLIS — Rarely, especially in recent years, has a Kentucky team been such a known commodity so early in the season.With a group of returners from last year’s national runner-up and the Big Blue Bahamas tour, UK fans and those who follow college basketball closely have had ample time to get to know the Wildcats, and remarkable hype has followed.On Tuesday, anyone who didn’t already know found out: These Cats, with those platoons, are a force to be reckoned with.”We kind of bum-rushed them a little bit and every time they looked there were more tanks coming over the hill,” Calipari said. “It wasn’t substitutes; it was reinforcements. Here they come.”In the first top-10 matchup of the season, UK overwhelmed No. 5 Kansas in a 72-40 win that was just as one-sided as the final score suggested. In front of a national audience and a crowd of 19,306 in Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Cats dominated with the same combination of length, athleticism, experience and depth that sent them to the top of preseason polls.After Kansas’ Bill Self had coached against the Cats for 40 minutes, he stepped to the podium for his postgame press conference. Before he fielded the first question, he took a drink of water and found himself disappointed it wasn’t another clear liquid in the bottle.”I was hoping that was vodka,” Self joked.In a remarkably balanced effort, all 16 Wildcats – scholarship players and walk-ons alike – saw the floor. Dakari Johnson, showing off his leaner physique, was a go-to post presence, scoring a game-high 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Andrew Harrison joined him in double figures, scoring 10 points to go with four assists. With him running the show, UK committed just six turnovers against 15 assists as 12 players scored..”Andrew Harrison was unbelievable today, his control of the game and how much energy he played with,” Calipari said.As good as Andrew Harrison was, it was UK’s defense that was primarily responsible for handing Kansas its largest margin of defeat in Self’s tenure on a night the Cats shot only 43.1 percent themselves. In really the only back-and-forth battle of the night, the race between UK’s blocked-shot total and Kansas’ made field goals ended in an 11-11 tie, meaning the Jayhawks shot just 19.6 percent from the field and managed 0.635 points per possession.”I thought they were great,” Self said. “You get long athletes that like to guard and they can cover up for mistakes as well as anybody that I’ve ever seen. They were really, really impressive.”By the end of the game, the Jayhawks were turning away from the paint rather than attempt to shoot over the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns and Marcus Lee, who had four blocks apiece. Willie Cauley-Stein, already sixth on UK’s all-time blocks list, had just one, but affected many more in allowing not a single Jayhawk to score double figures.”What we did is we really covered for each other,” Calipari said. “We had the helper helping the helper. I mean, it was like, you know – and it’s nice when you have guys like Willie and Marcus Lee who can go guard guards. So now if there’s a switch or something or someone’s open, they just go out and guard the guy.”Kansas’ lone effective offensive stretch was over the final 6:54 of the first half, during which UK saw a 16-point lead cut to 38-28 at halftime. For the rest of the game’s 33-plus minutes, the Jayhawks scored just 24 points, including a scoreless stretch of more than five minutes to open the second half.It was UK’s second platoon of Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Lee and Johnson that yielded most of the run to close the first half, but Coach Cal stuck with the plan and played the same group out of the break.”I wanted to see,” Calipari said. “And I wasn’t changing the rotation. I mean, I went right with the rotation. The guys who finished the half who played poorly I started the second half because that’s how we do it. We got 10 starters on this team.”That sounds great in theory, but even Coach Cal has admitted it’s no guarantee the platoon system lasts through the season. All along, he’s said it will be the players and their belief – or lack thereof – in the system that decide whether it does.”What I can’t tell you is the kind of kids we have,” Calipari said. “Couldn’t do what we’re doing. There’s no way if we didn’t have solid, selfless kids to do what we’re doing and giving them half a game. We’re playing them half a game and they’re accepting it. Unless they allow us to do this, we can’t do it.”UK, in dominating a team expected to contend for a Final Four berth, took a big step toward instilling belief that the platoon system can work, and it happened two days after Buffalo led the Cats by five at half.”I really love it,” Towns said. “It gives everyone, like he said, a fair chance. But at the same time, … it allows us to go hard all the time.”With no player on the floor for more than 21 minutes and all 10 original platoon members playing at last 17, the Cats could run to the point of exhaustion with no concern about conserving energy. As nice as depth is, it’s the talent that comprises it that differentiates Kentucky.”We’ve had teams where we’ve had good guys, but there’s a chance you may have 10 guys that play in the league all in their platoon deal,” Self said. “We’ve had some teams where you have four or five guys that may have a shot. So it’s a little bit different being able to do that.”In spite of all that, Tuesday was still just one game in mid-November. Perhaps sensing what the performance would do to the hysteria already surrounding his team, Coach Cal tried to let a little air out of UK’s rapidly inflating balloon.”No, we’re not that good,” Calipari said. “Next question.”But maybe they could be down the line.Coach Cal was sure to point out that UK’s offense needs work, especially when opponents go to sagging zone defenses and force the Cats to hit from the outside. He also said the Cats need to run more motion offense and also involve Aaron Harrison more after the guard scored only eight points against Kansas.”We got so much to figure out about this team it’s not funny,” Calipari said. There’s a flipside to that, and opposing coaches likely won’t find it all that funny either.”The only good news is when we come into town the other guy’s gotta figure out two teams,” Calipari said. “Like, alright, how are we preparing for this?”Coach Cal will take his side every time.