[Cactus Jack]

Final from Milwaukee.

Kentucky came in as a +1.5 point underdog but opened up leads of as many as 16, largely fueled by Koby Brea's 23 points. Lamar Butler had a great game as well, finishing with 14 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, and only 2 turnovers. Otega Oweh played less than 8 minutes in the first half, but the 'Cats got timely contributions from Collin Chandler and Trent Noah. The Harlan native finished with only 4 points, but got fouled on a last second three point attempt right before the half and sunk 2 huge free throws to push Kentucky's halftime lead to 5. Amari Williams and Andrew Carr didn't have games that jump off the stat sheet, but they filled a lot of categories and made tons of winning plays that won't show up there.

After riding their offense all season, Kentucky's defense stepped up, never letting the Illini go on a run of more than 6 unanswered points. I personally thought Brea, whose defense was pretty atrocious throughout much of the season, had moments where he was passable.

Illinois' Jakucionis was held to 16 points and 10 assists, but committed 9 turnovers as well. Neither he, Will Reilly, nor Ivisic (who finished with 19 & 6) did tons of damage against Kentucky considering. Instead, it was Kylan Boswell's 23 points that led the way for Illinois.

Kentucky won the boards 44-36 and won the turnover battle 14-5.

The Illini end the season at 22-13 and the Cats moved on to 24-11. 

Kentucky will face Tennessee in Friday's Sweet 16 game from Indianapolis. Tip is set for 7:39 pm ET and the game will be carried on TBS and TruTV.

[Old School Hound]

Final from Milwaukee.

Kentucky came in as a +1.5 point underdog but opened up leads of as many as 16, largely fueled by Koby Brea's 23 points. Lamar Butler had a great game as well, finishing with 14 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, and only 2 turnovers. Otega Oweh played less than 8 minutes in the first half, but the 'Cats got timely contributions from Collin Chandler and Trent Noah. The Harlan native finished with only 4 points, but got fouled on a last second three point attempt right before the half and sunk 2 huge free throws to push Kentucky's halftime lead to 5. Amari Williams and Andrew Carr didn't have games that jump off the stat sheet, but they filled a lot of categories and made tons of winning plays that won't show up there.

After riding their offense all season, Kentucky's defense stepped up, never letting the Illini go on a run of more than 6 unanswered points. I personally thought Brea, whose defense was pretty atrocious throughout much of the season, had moments where he was passable.

Illinois' Jakucionis was held to 16 points and 10 assists, but committed 9 turnovers as well. Neither he, Will Reilly, nor Ivisic (who finished with 19 & 6) did tons of damage against Kentucky considering. Instead, it was Kylan Boswell's 23 points that led the way for Illinois.

Kentucky won the boards 44-36 and won the turnover battle 14-5.

The Illini end the season at 22-13 and the Cats moved on to 24-11. 

Kentucky will face Tennessee in Friday's Sweet 16 game from Indianapolis. Tip is set for 7:39 pm ET and the game will be carried on TBS and TruTV.

Good write up, Jack. I'm not surprised we won. When people have doubted this team, at times this season, and pretty much written off their chances for winning, they seem to have a "we'll show you" type attitude.  Duke, Tennessee, Gonzaga, even Missouri. No one was giving them much of a chance. But they seem to rise to the occasion when their backs are against the wall. This group of guys will be remembered fondly by Big Blue fans as the years go by. They have their shortcomings but, man, they have quite a collective will to prove the doubters and naysayers wrong.

[Bluecat]

This was another gutsy performance by the Cats. Noah and Chandler played well off the bench. Chandler has really figured some things out this season. Early in the season we felt we would be here and this was before all the injuries. With the injuries I feel like we was unsure but this bunch has continued on and never used it as an excuse. This team has truly been fun to watch and Pope has done great things with them. Gonna be fun to see what Pope and staff does from this point forward. Go Cats!

[Cactus Jack]

Good write up, Jack. I'm not surprised we won. When people have doubted this team, at times this season, and pretty much written off their chances for winning, they seem to have a "we'll show you" type attitude.  Duke, Tennessee, Gonzaga, even Missouri. No one was giving them much of a chance. But they seem to rise to the occasion when their backs are against the wall. This group of guys will be remembered fondly by Big Blue fans as the years go by. They have their shortcomings but, man, they have quite a collective will to prove the doubters and naysayers wrong.

This isn't anywhere near one of the most talented teams of the past twenty or so years, but they are lots of fun to watch and so easy to root for.

For a lot of our guys, their next loss is probably the last time they step off a basketball court in the US.

Nothing at all wrong with making a living playing overseas, and a few guys have played well enough to be a second round pick or to get a G League look, but I thought Bilas really nailed one of our recent NIT teams after a loss when he said "this isn't the Peach Jam, you don't lose at 1 and play again at 6" (or something to that effect).