Self used it (triangle and 2) because Kentucky's 5-foot-9 Ulis had been shredding KU's defense in an even louder way that even Oklahoma State's Jawun Evans and Iowa State's Monté Morris had in victories against Kansas. Less than two minutes into the second half, Ulis had scored 18 points, made 8 of 10 field goals and had five assists, no turnovers and three steals. Then Kansas switched its defense and Kentucky turned it over on its first possession against it and went on a three-minute scoring drought.
Ulis played all 45 minutes and finished with 26 points, eight assists and three turnovers. Whereas the junk defense slowed Ulis, nothing could stop KU's Wayne Selden Jr. (33 points) from having the best game of his career.
"Yeah, I didn't have many openings," Ulis said of playing against the triangle-and-two. "I forced a few things late, should have given the ball up."
Graham said that he and Mason communicated on each possession, discussing which player would check Ulis that time down the floor, doing so in order to prevent each other from growing too exhausted to be effective.
The defense made Kentucky slam on its brakes for the first time all night.
"They were chasing Tyler and Jamal and it made it difficult to get into our sets, so we had to change it on the fly," said Kentucky's Alex Poythress, who had a big night with 13 points, eight rebounds, a block and two steals.