Kansas' three-week trial thrashes Kentucky's five-month build in eye-opening Champions Classic performance

The boos rained down in the United Center after Kentucky flopped its first real test vs. the Jayhawks

Nov 11, 2026 at 9:01 am ET • 4 min read

CHICAGO -- Kansas has been practicing with Trey Kaufman-Renn for three weeks. Kentucky's first summer practice was nearly five months ago in the middle of June.

And yet, Tuesday's final score: No. 15 Kansas 89, No. 24 Kentucky 69.

It's almost mind-boggling how quickly this new-look Kansas crew has gelled. Even without all-gas guard Melvin Council Jr., who broke his foot Monday, the Jayhawks play a beautiful brand of basketball. Kaufman-Renn has brought both pinpoint accuracy and brute force to this Jayhawks' arsenal. It takes a splash of gaslighting to understand why Kaufman-Renn was granted a sixth year of eligibility, but Bill Self is totally fine with all of it because as long as TKR is eligible, Kansas has a chance to be a Tier 1 national championship contender. 

Kaufman-Renn deposited 12 points, six grown-man rebounds and, most importantly, six assists with no turnovers. Kaufman-Renn's playmaking makes Tre White (30 points on 16 shots) a menace. It also drives Kansas into unstoppable territory when it's paired with the dominance from future No. 1 pick Tyran Stokes. A sixth-year senior from Sellersburg, Indiana, and an 18-year-old from Louisville will have Allen Fieldhouse hoppin' this winter.

"One thing that we have become much better at, which helps chemistry, is that we have become much better cutters," Self said. "We weren't cutters until we got Trey Kaufman-Renn. Then you become a cutting team, which is an element that we didn't have two weeks ago. I think it's pretty good."

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Kansas scored 14 points directly off cuts against Kentucky. A TKR dime led to nine of those 14 points. 

It's a stark contrast to whatever the heck is happening in Lexington. Kentucky got a bad whistle on Tuesday. Star sophomore big man Malachi Moreno was limited to seven first-half minutes after picking up his second foul with 16:37 left in the first stanza. It was a bad call, kickstarting a lot of bad ball.

While Kansas' offense cut Kentucky to shreds -- literally and figuratively -- Mark Pope's offense rarely created anything easy on the other end. The 'Cats scored just four points directly off cuts. Outside of Zoom Diallo pull-ups or contested Malachi Moreno post-ups, Kentucky's offense was dragged into the mud.

This wasn't the pitch.

Kentucky landed creators this offseason, praising the sky-high assist rates for Diallo and Furman transfer Alex Wilkins. Diallo's shot-making was a shot in the arm against the Jayhawks, but that starting backcourt combined for only one assist and seven turnovers. That ratio will not correlate to winning basketball.

Kentucky added lots of shooting in the spring, believing that Milan Momcilovic, Ousmane N'Diaye and Justin McBride would add the 3-point threat that was the demise of Kentucky's frontcourt a season ago. This roster was supposed to be a Mark Pope roster, apparently. But this half-court offense can't scheme up open looks against high-major athletes. 

Kansas was draped on Momcilovic like white on rice. The best shooter in all of college basketball managed just three 3-point attempts. Momcilovic won't ever admit it, but he misses playing with a wizard passer like Iowa State's Joshua Jefferson. He's almost got no chance to lead the country in 3-point shooting again unless this half-court offense magically finds answers to the test. Right now, Kentucky is playing too slowly and too predictably. There's not enough quick decision-makers on the floor, which gives smart defenses (like Kansas) an opportunity to douse fires before they can even start.

Some November box scores lie, but there's more than a few that are extremely prophetic. Maybe this was just one bad night for Kentucky, but it certainly doesn't feel like it.

"We took a massive, really disappointing, not living up to our standard hit tonight, but this is a good group that is going to learn and respond," Pope said.

That's an eyebrow-raising comment, of sorts. There's a belief that this team has what it takes to contend. Moreno does seem wired with the right stuff. He talks the talk and walks the walk. The sophomore center is a total warrior and a future first-round pick. When you have a big man, you have a chance. Diallo, flaws and all, is not a quitter. It's not in his DNA. Wilkins is talented with room to grow. Redshirt-freshman Braydon Hawthorne could be a real two-way force down the road. More minutes for the string-bean wing seem inevitable. Momcilovic is Momcilovic. Maybe Kentucky starts using him more as a screener to try and create leverage. That's the bullish outlook for a team that maybe just needs more time.

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The reality is Kentucky has just one true high-major difference-maker in the frontcourt. Kentucky got outscored by 16 points in the 13 minutes when Moreno was not on the floor against Kansas, and the 4-spot looks like a borderline disaster. Ousmane N'Diaye and Justin McBride are taking turns just chucking ill-advised shots. It's starting to make sense why Kentucky wanted Mark Mitchell on this basketball team so badly. Alas.

It's soul-searching time for Kentucky after an awkward, uncomfortable night in Chicago. Getting destroyed by Stokes, who picked Self over Pope, is salt in the wound. It didn't let its $20 million+ roster talk to the media postgame, which would not have been the case if the 'Cats had won. Rough look. What's next? Your guess is as good as mine. A non-conference tilt with Indiana awaits in 10 days. Big-boy teams like Virginia and Louisville are on the docket in December. That's terrifying to think about on a night like this when Pope fell to just 29-27 against high-major teams at Kentucky.

Three weeks of practice has Kansas looking like a real team. Kentucky? The unavoidable conversation is looming.