John Calipari Says Kansas 'Punked' Kentucky in 2nd Half of Wildcats' Loss

Kentucky head men's basketball coach John Calipari praised No. 7 Kansas on Tuesday after the Jayhawks defeated the No. 20 Wildcats 65-62 in the State Farm Champions Classic.

According to Kyle Tucker of The Athletic, Calipari said: "If I was [Kansas head coach] Bill Self, I'd be so happy, because my team was held to 29 percent from the floor and 23 percent from the three and we win. I love those games, just to slog it out. Let me tell you what they did in the second half: They punked us."

Kansas improved to 2-1 on the season with the victory, while Kentucky fell to 1-2 in the early going after previously getting upset by Richmond.

While Kentucky did hold Kansas did 29.9 percent shooting from the floor and 23.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc, as Calipari mentioned, the Wildcats weren't efficient in their own right.

Kentucky shot slightly better from the floor at 36.1 percent, but they were held to 3-of-21 shooting from long range, which comes down to a paltry 14.3 percent.

Additionally, the Jayhawks won the rebounding battle with 47 to Kentucky's 43, and it turned the ball over 11 times to the Wildcats' 16.

Kentucky entered halftime with a 35-29 lead, but Self's team flipped the script in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 36-27 thanks to a mauling defensive style that a young Kentucky team was unable to overcome.

The Wildcats had just two players score in double figures in the game, as Brandon Boston Jr. and Davion Mintz tied for the team lead with only 12 points.

Meanwhile, Kansas boasted a player who took over the game for stretches in highly touted freshman forward Jalen Wilson who led all scorers with 23 points and added 10 rebounds.

The Jayhawks got 17 points out of junior guard Ochai Agbaji as well.

Although it fell 102-90 to No. 1 Gonzaga in its opening game of the season, Kansas has since proved that it is still among the top teams in the nation with a 94-72 drubbing of Saint Joseph's followed by Tuesday's hard-fought victory over Kentucky.

As for Calipari, he boasts a talented team, but he has to hope that games like Tuesday's loss to Kansas will make his youngsters battle-hardened and better prepared to win similar slugfests later in the season.