The University of Kansas men’s basketball team faced off against the freshman-heavy University of Kentucky team at Rupp Arena on Jan. 28 and came out with a massive 79-73 win.

Led by senior point guard Frank Mason III’s 21 points on 9 of 18 shooting, KU got a large contribution from freshman guard/forward Josh Jackson (20 pts, 10 reb).

Senior forward Landen Lucas offered up 13 points and five rebounds on a perfect shooting night (6-6) while also keeping Kentucky’s star freshman forward, Edrice “Bam” Adebayo, who many analysts believed would be a massive factor against a weakened Kansas frontcourt.

The win came despite shooting only 26.3 percent from 3-point range (5-19), trailing by as many as 12 against Kentucky in the hostile environment, and having former McDonald’s All-American sophomore Carlton Bragg suspended in the first of an indefinite amount of games.

For Kentucky, both freshman shooting guard Malik Monk and senior forward Derek Willis led the Wildcats with 18 points apiece. UK shot 40 percent from the 3 (8-20) but failed to hold on to the lead and let the win slip through their fingers.

This victory is huge for ranking and seeding come March, but as head coach Bill Self will tell you, the two games leading and following this matchup are ones that matter far more: the 69-85 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers, and the upcoming home game against No. 2 Baylor.

Baylor is tied with Kansas atop the Big 12 at 7-1 in conference play, and West Virginia is tied for third at 5-3.

The elephant in the room is of course the streak. Kansas has won the Big 12 regular season title 12 years in a row, and don’t have much room for mistakes this year with Baylor playing as well as they are.

The game against Baylor is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN 2 at 8 p.m. central time.