BATON ROUGE, La. -- The highly anticipated matchup between No. 9 Kentucky and LSU, featuring freshman forward Ben Simmons, arguably the best player in the nation, never developed Tuesday night but that didn't stop the Tigers from roaring to an 85-67 victory.

"We were a very confident team tonight," LSU coach Johnny Jones said. "There is a trust these guys have to have and when they do, great things happen. We didn't go in search of shots, we let things come to us."

"Great job by LSU," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "We weren't ready to compete ate the level they competed at, especially inside. We didn't get anything inside except a bunch of fouls."

Simmons, who entered the game averaging 20.5 points and 13.1 rebounds per game, both team highs, scored 14 points, including 12 in the second half. He also had 10 rebounds. But the stage belonged to junior guard Tim Quarterman, who posted a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Craig Victor II added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

"Kentucky was preseason No. 1 and for us to play that way against that caliber of a team, we have to be excited about it," Jones said. "But it's a journey and our guys understand this is just one game."

LSU improves to 9-5 overall, 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Both wins have come against the preseason No. 1 and 2 teams in the league, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

"We have come together as a team," Simmons said. "We are gelling. Everyone got sick of what was happening and we all laid it out."

Kentucky, which falls to 11-3, 0-1 SEC, was led by sophomore guard Tyler Ulis with 23 points. Freshman guard Jamal Murray added 21. No other UK player scored in double figures and starting post players Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee both fouled out. Poythress scored four points, Lee zero.

"We can't afford to have three or four guys not show up," Calipari said. "Others have to do too much and that was the case tonight."

Ulis and Murray were visibly angry after the game and didn't hold back many punches. Ulis said some players "looked a little bit scared." Murray said UK plays "weak at times."

"We have to all play so I have to get on guys more," Ulis said. "We took 10 steps back tonight."

In the second half, Kentucky trimmed the LSU lead to four points, 58-54, with 9:36 to play. But LSU responded with six straight points. Quarterman hit a 3-pointer and Victor scored an old-fashioned three-point play. Including those six points, LSU outscored UK 27-13 the rest of the way. The Tigers also outrebounded Kentucky 47-32.

For the game, LSU shot 49.2 percent from the field, including 43 percent from 3-point range. The Tigers had 17 assists versus nine turnovers and outscored Kentucky 44-24 in the paint.

Kentucky, whose only lead of the night came at 2-0, shot 41.4 percent, but only because the Wildcats made 50 percent in the second half. UK was 7-20 from 3-point range, good for 35 percent. Kentucky was also miserable from the foul line, just 52 percent at 12-for-23. UK had only eight assists against 14 turnovers.

In the first half, LSU's Simmons scored only two points and played only eight minutes because of two early fouls. But several others stepped up, including guard Keith Hornsby and forward Aaron Epps with eight points each. Quarterman added seven.

Kentucky, which played its most complete game of the season in an SEC opening win Saturday against Ole Miss, played one of its worst halves against LSU. UK shot just 32 percent, hitting 9-of-28 field goals to go with nine turnovers. Ulis was tops with nine points.

LSU had a 37-27 halftime lead.

NOTES: Kentucky has an 86-26 record against LSU. Coach John Calipari is now 8-2 vs. the Tigers ... G Tyler Ulis may only be 5-foot-9, but he stands tall in Kentucky basketball history as he became the first player to ever record at least 20 points, 10 assists and six steals in one game, which he did against Ole Miss on Saturday ... Kentucky F Marcus Lee shot between than 70 percent over his previous eight games ... LSU is just 9-5, but 8-1 at home this season.