Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris Amaze CBB Fans as Kansas Rallies Past Kentucky

No. 1 survives.

In the best game of the young men's college basketball season, the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks outlasted the No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats for an 89-84 victory in Tuesday's Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago.

It was a back-and-forth affair throughout, and there were extended stretches where it seemed like both teams would eventually pull away for the win. Yet clutch shooting from Dajuan Harris Jr. and a dominant performance from Hunter Dickinson was enough for the Jayhawks to prevail.

Dickinson finished with 27 points, 21 rebounds and three steals, while Harris added 23 points and seven assists behind 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Throw in a triple-double of 12 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds from Kevin McCullar Jr., and Kansas had too much firepower.

The performance drew praise from social media:

The Jayhawks are the top team in the country with national championship aspirations thanks to the presence of a number of headline veterans, while Kentucky was the one with some questions about youth and inexperience.

It didn't look that way in the first half.

Freshman Rob Dillingham provided an immediate spark off the bench with a barrage of three-pointers and a willingness to facilitate when Kansas collapsed on him. Combine that with sophomore Adou Thiero controlling the boards and scoring from different areas, and the SEC representatives jumped out to a seven-point halftime lead and extended it to double digits.

However, the seemingly inevitable Kansas run arrived.

Dickinson started overwhelming Kentucky's bigs down low, and McCullar set up K.J. Adams Jr. for multiple chances in a row that included an alley-oop. McCullar then converted an and-one, and just like that the Big 12 team had the lead.

It would have been easy for the Wildcats to fold down the stretch after Kansas appeared to seize control, but they did the opposite. Much like Dillingham in the first half, freshman Reed Sheppard provided a key lift off the bench with his outside shooting, and Antonio Reeves created multiple scoring chances.

The back-and-forth defined the second half, but Harris' red-hot shooting from the outside and a key basket down low from Dickinson in crunch time secured the win for the Jayhawks.

They will look to keep the momentum rolling when they face Chaminade on Monday.