Kansas University’s clash Friday with Villanova was a battle of teams trying to find their identities.

By the time No. 13-ranked KU put the Wildcats away in an 86-79 win, Villanova coach Jay Wright knew how to classify his team.

“We just showed we’re a good team with a weak inside game,” Wright said. “That’s all. We’re not a great team.”

Maybe not, but the Wildcats (8-3) also proved to the sold-out Allen Fieldhouse crowd they knew their weaknesses and played to their strengths. Their inside game is weak, so they avoid it. They’re a good long-range shooting team, so bombs away.

Rather than run-and-gun, Villanova’s is a huck-and-chuck offense, heaving three-pointers from anywhere. In fact, the Wildcats attempted more treys (35) and made more (13) than twos (12-for-32).

The strategy almost worked. What seemed like an insurmountable 18-point deficit midway through the second half was whittled to five in the waning seconds when Mike Nardi, Allen Ray and Andreas Bloch each canned threes. Nardi even was fouled by Aaron Miles while shooting a three-pointer, and he drained all three free throws.

“We kept coming, kept playing hard,” Ray said. “That’s one of the foundations of our team — to play hard until the last buzzer.”

Perimeter shooting kept Villanova in the game, but a virtually nonexistent defensive presence in the paint was its downfall. The Jayhawks’ big men did whatever they wanted on the interior, pushing, shoving and bullying around the Wildcats’ tall-but-twiggy forwards.

“It was us not playing good defense down low,” Ray said. “Guys were getting the ball down low really easily.”

Kansas University's Keith Langford (5) plucks a steal and heads downcourt in the Jayhawks' 86-79 victory over Villanova. KU had six steals in the win Friday at Allen Fieldhouse.

KU’s Wayne Simien plowed his way to 23 points and sank all nine free-throw attempts. David Padgett had his best game in almost a month, logging 15 points and nine rebounds. Jeff Graves didn’t attempt a shot, but he swiped eight boards and dished two assists.

Meanwhile, ‘Nova big guys Andreas Bloch and Jason Fraser combined for just 12 points.

“Simien, Padgett and even Graves, I’d love to have any one of those guys,” Wright said. “They’re very, very good. They’re as good of college forwards as I’ve seen in a while in terms of skill, toughness, strength and size. I know that’s our weakness. I think it was exposed tonight.

“Our inside people are young and kind of young bodies. (Kansas had) mature bodies.”

As dominant at the Jayhawks’ post players were, the Wildcats held a 41-35 rebounding advantage and snagged 18 offensive rebounds.

While Kansas (8-2) exploited Villanova’s interior futility, the Wildcats showed the Jayhawks they could use defensive help.

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Kansas hasn’t guarded the perimeter particularly well this year, and Friday was no exception. The Wildcats were rarely guarded, let alone put under pressure, on their three-point tries, Ray said. That’s why they wiped away KU’s colossal lead so quickly.

Ray said Villanova simply didn’t take advantage of its uncontested looks enough to win.

“A lot of guys were swinging the ball, finding open people and they were having open shots,” he said. “We felt that those were pretty good shots.

“Those were open shots. There wasn’t too many really contested, and if there were, we would’ve swung the ball. Shots like that we’ve just gotta knock down.”