Tre White Scores 30 and Tyran Stokes Has a Double-Double Against the School He Turned Down as Kansas Routs Kentucky 89-69

By The Arena Staff

CHICAGO, Nov. 10, 2026 — Kentucky wanted Tyran Stokes badly. On Tuesday night, the Wildcats found out exactly what they missed.

Stokes, the Kansas freshman who chose the Jayhawks over Kentucky, had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Tre White scored a career-high 30, and No. 15 Kansas ran away from No. 24 Kentucky 89-69 in the second game of the Champions Classic at the United Center, according to CBS Sports.

It did not start that way. Kentucky made its first five shots and forced Bill Self into an early timeout. "They got anything they wanted," Self said, according to KU Sports. "I thought we guarded them pretty damn good after the first five minutes or so."

The game turned during a scrum with Kansas trailing 10-7. Kentucky's Ousmane N'Diaye and Kansas guard Taylen Kinney were both hit with technical fouls after N'Diaye shoved Kinney, who had come over to help Stokes off the floor, KU Sports reported. N'Diaye was called for an offensive foul right after that, and with center Malachi Moreno already sitting with two fouls, Kentucky's frontcourt was in trouble. Moreno played just seven minutes in the first half, according to CBS Sports.

Kansas took over from there. Stokes drove a 15-2 run with a three-point play, a 3-pointer, a deep jumper and a dunk, and Trey Kaufman-Renn scored the last four points of the half, including a floater with one second left, for a 46-36 lead. The Jayhawks ripped off 12 straight points early in the second half and led by as many as 22.

White did most of his damage after the break. He scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half and made 8 of 9 shots, CBS Sports reported. Kaufman-Renn added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Kansas finished with 24 assists while winning the points-off-turnovers battle 22-0.

The Jayhawks did it in their first game without guard Melvin Council Jr., who broke his foot in practice on Monday. "I feel like that's like the blessing and the special thing about our team, is our depth and next man up," White said.

Zoom Diallo kept Kentucky afloat with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting, and Moreno had 19 points and 10 rebounds. But Milan Momcilovic, the Iowa State transfer who CBS Sports called the best 3-point shooter in college basketball last season, didn't attempt a 3 until the second half and finished with five points on 2-of-7 shooting. Kentucky never got within single digits after halftime.

Kansas improved to 3-0 and has now beaten Kentucky three straight times. The Jayhawks face UNLV in Las Vegas on Tuesday in the Players Era tournament. For Mark Pope, in his third season in Lexington, it was the kind of big-stage loss CBS Sports called a wakeup call.

Sourcing: CBS Sports, KU Sports and AP.