LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — They say one of the trickiest things to do in college basketball is to beat a team three times in one season.
Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats will eagerly embrace that — or any other — challenge.
By defeating Illinois, 84-75, Sunday night at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, UK earned an NCAA men’s basketball tournament Sweet Sixteen opportunity against Tennessee Friday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. That game will tip at 7:39 p.m.
"Who knows where we're going to go from here?" Pope said. "But what a blessing to be around this group."
"It's just the love we have for each other," said UK center Amari Williams. "We fight for one another."
UK handled the Illini as easily as they handled Rick Barnes and the Vols twice during the winter, leading by double figures for most of the second half. UK and Tennessee have already been joined in the Sweet Sixteen by five other Southeastern Conference rivals -- Auburn, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama and Ole Miss, which overwhelmed Iowa State late Sunday night.
Seven is one more than the record six teams the Atlantic Coast Conference put in the 2016 Sweet Sixteen.
"We're just battle tested," UK guard Lamont Butler said. "The conference was a beast ... From Day One, our focus was to win a national championship. The expectation at Kentucky is to win."
Defensively, Kentucky dogged the Illini into 14 turnovers and 28% shooting from distance
"We've got a lot of dogs on this team," said Butler, who credited a more comfortable shoulder brace for his excellent performance. "We have a lot of people who were doubted."
Offensively, Koby Brea was everything that Pope needed him to be as the Wildcats surged into the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 2019 — and the first time in Pope’s coaching career.
Credit Brea with 23 points as he made 10 of 16 shots, three from distance. Brea led UK with 36 minutes and did not turn the ball over while grabbing six rebounds.
"To do what he did tonight is just extraordinary," Pope said. "I think he's the best shooter in college basketball. He's in the process of becoming an elite level cutter, too."
Butler scored 14 while limiting Illinois sniper Kasparas Jakucionis to 13 points.
Tennessee is the 2-seed in the Midwest Regional. Kentucky is the 3. But that’s not reflected in the scorebook from the two games the Wildcats and Volunteers played.
After upsetting the Vols, 78-73, in Knoxville on Jan. 28, UK beat Barnes’ team again, 75-64, two weeks later in Rupp Arena.
Now comes the chance for the Three-Peat in Midwest Regional that has followed the seeding form as it will also include top seed Houston against the 4-seed, Matt Painter and Purdue.
Kentucky controlled the first half, trailing for only 26 seconds. The Wildcats did that with stifling defense. They forced the Illini into eight turnovers, half of them by Kasparas Jakucionis, the dynamic play-making guard. For the first 15 minutes, Illinois had more turnovers than field goals.
Jakucionis averages 15 points per game. He labored to manage five points in the first half against UK.
Balance carried the Wildcats. Pope played nine guys at least six minutes —and eight scored. UK limited its turnovers to four but the Wildcats could not stretch their lead beyond a dozen points because they missed half of their eight free throw attempts.
As impressive as that was, Pope’s team was even better to start the second half. The Wildcats outscored Illinois 8-0 in the first 2 1/2 minutes. They made their first seven shots as well as 10 of their first 11 as the Wildcats pushed ahead, 57-42.
Illinois failed to get closer than eight points for the rest of the half, finishing with 75 points, 9 below its season average of 84.
"A lot of people didn't think we were going to be here," Brea said.
But the Wildcats' next stop is downtown Indianapolis.
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