photo by: AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Kansas coaches and players celebrate after guard Taylen Kinney scored a 3-point basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky in the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026.

CHICAGO — Fueled by a critical run of 12 straight points early in the second half, the 15th-ranked Kansas men’s basketball team defeated No. 24 Kentucky in resounding fashion, 89-69, on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic.

Facing the primary recruiting rival he spurned in favor of KU, freshman forward Tyran Stokes did a bit of everything for the Jayhawks and came away with 23 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Tre White was KU’s leading scorer with a career-high 30 points and added six boards of his own, and Trey Kaufman-Renn chipped in 12 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Jayhawks. They played their first game without guard Melvin Council Jr., who suffered a broken foot in practice on Monday.

Guard Zoom Diallo was the saving grace of a Kentucky team plagued by fouling issues, as he scored 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting. Center Malachi Moreno contributed 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Jayhawks held dead-eye shooter Milan Momcilovic to five points on 2-for-7 shooting, including 1-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Bill Self improved to 8-1 in games played at the United Center during his KU tenure.

KU offered minimal resistance on defense in the early stages of the game, and Kentucky punished the Jayhawks by making its first five shots to force an early timeout from Self.

With KU trailing 10-7, Kentucky forward Ousmane N’Diaye got called for a common foul while attempting to tie up Stokes, who was on the ground. N’Diaye fell backwards as Kinney tried to help Stokes up, then got up and shoved Kinney. Kinney and N’Diaye were each called for technical fouls. Then N’Diaye got whistled for an offensive foul immediately afterward, meaning that with Moreno having committed two early fouls, both Wildcat big men quickly found themselves in foul trouble.

KU took a brief 11-10 lead on two free throws by Kaufman-Renn before conceding a 3-pointer to Diallo.

The Jayhawks caught fire with a 15-2 run headlined by Stokes, who after a slow start chipped in a three-point play inside, 3-pointer, deep jumper, dunk and assist to Christian Reeves.

KU for a moment took a 10-point lead at 33-23 on another corner 3 from Stokes, but the Wildcats were able to respond 13 seconds later with Diallo. Trent Perry ended up restoring the double-digit advantage with a tough layup inside.

Reeves helped KU maintain its cushion with a pair of putbacks, but Kentucky chipped away, including when Diallo scored through a foul by Stokes and then added another free throw after a foul by Dennis Parker Jr., a play on which KU unsuccessfully appealed for a flagrant foul.

Kaufman-Renn came through with the Jayhawks for a strong inside bucket off an offensive rebound with 52 seconds left in the half, then a floater with one second remaining following an assist by Kinney. That put KU up 46-36.

The Wildcats’ starting frontcourt played a combined 11 minutes in the first half, and Momcilovic did not attempt a 3-pointer.

Early in the second half, Stokes connected twice from deep and White managed to convert a transition layup even as he lost the ball in midair due to a foul by Diallo. White’s three-point play extended KU’s lead to 59-41.

After going ahead by as many as 22 points, the Jayhawks lost a bit of steam, and went into the under-12 timeout up 16 after an ill-advised goaltend by Reeves. They immediately came out of that timeout with White dunking on Brayden Hawthorne.

Kentucky was able to score in the post several times with a resurgent Moreno, and KU missed a series of free throws.

Keanu Dawes’ layup with three and a half minutes remaining essentially put the game to rest, as the Wildcats tried unsuccessfully to play some zone defense.

The Jayhawks, who improved to 3-0, will next face UNLV on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. Central time at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas as part of the Players Era tournament.