Lamb, Jones lead No. 2 Kentucky past No. 12 Kansas

[November 16, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Doron Lamb scored 17 points, Terrence Jones had 15 and No. 2 Kentucky raced to a decisive spurt at the start of the second half, passing an early-season test with a 75-65 victory over No. 12 Kansas on Tuesday night in a matchup between the two winningest programs in college basketball.

Anthony Davis added 14 points and seven blocks for the balanced Wildcats (2-0), an impressive winner at Madison Square Garden in the State Farm Champions Classic.

Starting three highly touted freshmen, Kentucky gave John Calipari his first career win against Kansas, a school that brings up both fond and painful memories for the third-year Wildcats coach.

Tyshawn Taylor, who grew up just across the Hudson River in New Jersey, scored 22 points to lead the Jayhawks (1-1). Thomas Robinson added 11 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 3:31 to go.

On almost any other night, a matchup between these two basketball blue bloods in the center of New York City would be the headline act. After all, the last time the two elite coaches squared off, Bill Self led Kansas to a comeback victory over Calipari and Memphis in the 2008 national title game.

But this one was overshadowed by the doubleheader opener, when Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski earned his 903rd career win with a 74-69 victory over Michigan State. With that win, Krzyzewski broke the Division I record held by former mentor Bob Knight, who sat on the other side of the court at the ESPN broadcast table.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Kentucky. Fellow freshman Marquis Teague also scored 12.

Calipari improved to 1-3 against Kansas, where he began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant in 1982.

Of course, his most wrenching loss to the Jayhawks came with Memphis in the 2008 NCAA championship game, when Derrick Rose and the Tigers blew a big lead late in regulation and lost 75-68 in overtime.

Still looking for his first national title, Calipari took Kentucky to the round of eight in 2010 and then the Final Four last season. The Wildcats haven't won it all since 1998, but this year's edition has an enviable mix of new talent and tournament experience that makes it a legitimate contender.

With the score tied at 30 a minute into the second half, the Wildcats busted loose for an 11-0 run. Jones flashed a fierce stare right at a television camera following a thunderous dunk. Teague broke into a big grin after a 3-pointer from the left side, then added a floater to give Kentucky a 41-30 lead with about 15:30 remaining.

Two free throws by Taylor -- he was 15 for 17 at the line and 3 of 13 from the field -- stopped the spurt, but Teague had a dunk and Lamb hit consecutive 3s. Moments after an airball, Lamb nailed another 3 to make it 54-37 with 10:05 to play.

Lamb received a big hand from the boisterous Kentucky fans when he came out for a breather, and Darius Miller followed his teammate's lead with a 3-pointer of his own.

Kansas didn't get within single digits again until there were 29 seconds to go. Calipari came out onto the court to lead his players away when there was a brief scuffle on the baseline with 6:11 left.

Kentucky boasts the most wins in Division I with 2,054, while Kansas is second with 2,038.

The Wildcats lead the series 20-6 -- the last meeting came in the second round of the 2007 NCAA tournament, when top-seeded Kansas beat Kentucky 88-76 in Chicago.

Kansas had won three in a row against Kentucky.

[Associated Press; By MIKE FITZPATRICK]

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