Playing at Kentucky, can Kansas basketball mimic Kentucky’s turnaround?

Two weeks ago, a reeling Kentucky basketball team arrived in Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers. Having lost by 26 at Alabama and at home to lowly South Carolina, the Cats jumped up and knockoff UT on Rocky Top.

Now Kansas is in a similar spot. Bill Self’s Jayhawks carry a three-game losing streak into Rupp Arena on Saturday night to face John Calipari’s Wildcats in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The SEC Network has the 8 p.m. tipoff.

There is one difference in the same scenario. While Alabama was ranked seventh when it took apart the Cats in Tuscaloosa, South Carolina’s lone conference victory remains what happened at Rupp on Jan. 10. Meanwhile, Kansas three straight defeats came against three ranked teams -- 83-82 in overtime to then No. 13 Kansas State in Manhattan; 83-60 at home to No. 14 TCU and 75-69 on Monday night at No. 17 Baylor.

In the latter, Kansas fell behind 20-7 to the Bears with 12:06 left in the first half. The Jayhawks cut the lead to 41-34 at halftime, then led 46-45 when Jalen Wilson hit a three-pointer with 15:23 remaining. But Baylor reclaimed the lead and stretched the advantage to 68-55 with 4:48 left. KU never pulled closer than five points after that.

Kansas has never lost four consecutive games under Self, who became KU coach in 2003-04. He’s lost three in a row four times but never four straight as the coach in Lawrence. The last time Kansas lost four straight was in 1988-89 under first-year coach Roy Williams. The losing streak stretched to eight that year.

So Saturday night the Jayhawks will have a pair of motivational factors. They no doubt remember their 80-68 loss to Kentucky at Allen Fieldhouse before continuing on to the national championship. More importantly, with a tough Big 12 Conference schedule remaining, they want desperately to get back on the right track.

Kentucky-Kansas links

Some links to get you ready for Saturday night:

Kentucky and Kansas are battling for No. 1 in college basketball’s all-time win list.

Mark Story has Kentucky-Kansas matchup with a game prediction.

I talked to Gary Bedore of the Kansas City Star and the H-L’s Ben Roberts for a preview podcast.

Can Kentucky stop Kansas freshman Gradey Dick?

Kansas knows it is meeting an improved Kentucky.

Kansas players have noticed a “pretty evident” issue in losing streak.

How often have defending national champions played at Rupp Arena?

SEC/Big 12 Challenge schedule

Here’s the schedule for Saturday’s SEC/Big 12 Basketball Challenge:

• 12 p.m. - Auburn at West Virginia (ESPN)

• 2 p.m. - Alabama at Oklahoma (ESPN)

• 2 p.m. - Iowa State at Missouri (ESPN2)

• 2 p.m. - Texas Tech at LSU (ESPNU)

• 4 p.m. - TCU at Mississippi State (ESPN2)

• 4 p.m. - Arkansas at Baylor (ESPN)

• 6 p.m. - Texas at Tennessee (ESPN)

• 6 p.m. - Florida at Kansas State (ESPN2)

• 8 p.m. - Kansas at Kentucky (ESPN)

Heading into Friday night’s games, Ken Pomeroy had the Big 12 ranked as the nation’s top conference, followed by the Big Ten, the Big East and then the SEC.

Kentucky Derby prep races this weekend

There are a couple of Kentucky Derby prep races this weekend.

Sunday brings us the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes from Santa Anita. It also brings a quartet of Bob Baffert trainees with Derby aspirations among the five entries.

After running second in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, Havnameltdown won the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes on Nov. 20. Baffert also has Faustin, an $800,000 purchase at the 2022 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Baffert also has Fort Warren and Gilmore.

The only non-Baffert horse in the race is Man Child, trained by Ryan Hanson.

Baffert also has the favorite in Saturday’s Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn. Arabian Knight won his career debut on Breeders’ Cup Saturday at Keeneland, posting an impressive 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

He’ll be challenged by a couple of Brad Cox trainees in Corona Bolt and Jace’s Road. Kenny McPeek also has a couple of entries in Sun Thunder and Departure.

Red Route One, a third place finisher in last year’s Breeders’ Futurity at Oaklawn, also figures to be a factor in the Southwest. He’s trained by Steve Asmussen for Winchell Thoroughbreds.

Smarty Jones Stakes winner Victory Formation is skipping the Southwest. Trained by Cox, Victory Formation has won all four of his career starts.

The Southwest Stakes can be seen on Fox Sports 2 with a post time of 5:57 EST on Saturday.

Here’s the list of the Eclipse Award winners announced Thursday night.

Rams find Liam Coen’s replacement

Sean McVay has filled the spot left open when Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Liam Coen returned to Kentucky to activate Coen 2.0 running Mark Stoops’ offense.

McVay is hiring former Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur to help form the offensive gamelan in L.A. LaFleur was offensive intern with the Cleveland Browns in 2014 when Kyle Shanahan was the Browns’ OC. LaFleur then followed Shanahan to Atlanta and on to San Francisco when Shanahan was named head coach of the 49ers in 2017. Former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Salah hired LaFleur as play-caller when Salah became head coach of the Jets in 2021.

Largely because of injuries, the Super Bowl champion Rams tanked in 2022, going 5-12. They finished dead last in yards per game at 280.5.

Odds and ends

▪ The Reds Caravan will be at the Game Day Sports Bar at LexLive across from Rupp Arena from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Fan stops are free and open to the public. One fan will win two tickets to the 2023 Opening Day game on Thursday, March 30 (4:10 pm) vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates.

▪ The UK women play host to Missouri at 3 p.m. Sunday at Memorial Coliseum. The SEC Network has the telecast. Kentucky is 9-11 overall and 1-7 in the SEC after Thursday’s home loss to Auburn. Missouri is 3-5 in the conference and 14-7 overall.

▪ Louisville, now 2-18 overall and 0-9 in the ACC, is at Notre Dame on Saturday. The Irish are 9-12 overall and 1-9 in the league. ESPN2 has the noon start.

▪ The Kentucky-Kansas game on ESPN will be going up against the Lakers-Celtics game on ABC on Saturday. UK-Kansas starts at 8. Lakers-Celtics starts at 8:30 p.m.

▪ After missing Indiana’s win at Minnesota on Wednesday night because of COVID, IU coach Mike Woodson is expected back on the bench when the Hoosiers play host to Ohio State at 8 p.m. on Fox.

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