photo by: Nick Krug

Kentucky head coach John Calipari gets animated during the second half, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kentucky coach John Calipari might know as much about Kansas basketball as any current head coach outside of the program who is not named Danny Manning. An assistant coach at Kansas from 1982 to 1985, Calipari said Friday during his press conference he used to use the archaic shower in the old Allen Fieldhouse locker room thinking, “Phog Allen showered in this shower.”

Calipari credited former Kansas head coach Ted Owens for getting him into the business, and said Owens would watch the Wildcats practice Friday afternoon, ahead of their Saturday night showdown (5:15, ESPN) with the Jayhawks.

Although the Kentucky coach has his own problems to worry about and doesn’t follow the Jayhawks with the zeroed-in focus of a fan, the man knows his KU basketball. With that in mind, here is what Calipari had to say about No. 2 Kansas (18-2 overall, 7-1 Big 12) before Bill Self’s team tries to topple No. 4 Kentucky (17-3, 7-1 SEC) inside Rupp Arena

Like KU, which lost at West Virginia Tuesday, Kentucky is coming off a conference road loss, to Tennessee. So, for the most part, Calipari addressed UK’s issues, such as players holding the ball too much and shots coming without more than one or two passes. Still, the eighth-year Kentucky coach, who is 3-1 versus Self and Kansas in that time, had plenty to say about the Jayhawks.

Coach Hall & Coach Owens. Both have taken me under their wings. Coach Owens gave me my start at Kansas & Coach Hall has been a mentor at UK pic.twitter.com/T51bKlngnb

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) January 27, 2017

Calipari on KU-UK similarities: “We’re playin’ the top-ranked team (coaches poll) that has veteran guards that understands their freshman (Josh Jackson) is as good as any of our freshmen (De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Bam Adebayo).

“You know, they play inside-out. Bill does a great job, and they’re good. They drive the ball like we drive the ball. The difference is they shoot 42 percent from the three. … They make threes. That’s what they do.”

Calipari on how Carlton Bragg’s absence might heighten or impact the importance of UK getting the ball to the paint: “I don’t know. I’m just worried about how we’re playing. … We don’t know what they’re gonna do. They may go zone, they may go triangle-and-two, they may trap the post, they may go small and make us (do the same).

“Whether he plays or doesn’t play, and I guess he’s not playing. I don’t know. I haven’t read a whole lot on it. At this stage, I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about us.”

Calipari on the possibility of a physical game: “You’re having two teams that drive the ball, and you’re having teams that, if there’s bumpin’ and grindin’ and they’re calling fouls, it’s an issue for both teams, because now you’re gonna go into your bench.”

Calipari on the need to feed 6-foot-10 Adebayo with KU thin in the post: “I’m just trying to tell (his players), ‘Do I have to call plays for you to throw him the ball? Do you really want to play that way?’ If he’s open, throw it to him. Just have it in your mind, ‘I’m looking to him first. I’ll throw it ahead, if I don’t have something I’m trying to get him the ball.’

“He’s the greatest kid. He doesn’t say anything.”

Calipari’s thoughts on two historically elite programs squaring off: “I wish it wasn’t now. I wish it was earlier. But it’s kind of like our North Carolina game in Vegas. I mean, at this point I bet you if you ask people who won that game, they would say, ‘You know what, I don’t know. But, wow, what a game it was.’ [Kentucky won 103-100.]

“We went to an overtime game down there (versus KU, in Allen Fieldhouse, in 2016) last time we played them, and that was in their building. And we’re a different team, and they’re different — they have the guards back, but they’re different. It’s just two programs trying to get better.

“I would imagine Bill’s trying to figure out his team, as I’m trying to figure out our team.”