Kentucky is alive and dancing.
The third-seeded Wildcats advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in six years with an 84-75 win over No. 6 seed Illinois on Sunday. Kentucky advances to the Midwest Regional semifinals where it will take on Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee on Friday in Indianapolis.
Winless in his two previous appearances with BYU in the Big Dance, Wildcats coach Mark Pope guided Kentucky to a pair of victories in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky’s last appearance in the Sweet Sixteen was in 2019 when the Wildcats lost to Auburn in the regional finals in Kansas City. They have had only two NCAA tournament wins from 2020 to 2024, including two shocking first-round losses.
The Wildcats (24-11) relied on their veteran guards to wear down the Illini. Kentucky forced 14 turnovers and scored 26 points off those miscues. Kentucky forced eight turnovers in the first 12 minutes to set the tone.
“We have a player-led team,” Pope said. “We have unbelievable leadership on our team, and it comes from a wide variety of guys, different slices of it. When you have players that are leading the charge, things get better.
“I have never seen a team that has gone from 112 to 45 (KenPom defensive ranking) in the last six weeks of the season. I’ve never seen it, and that is a credit to our guys. Gives you a sense of our players.”
Although a veteran playing in his fourth NCAA tournament, Butler said the entire roster was like a seasoned team, paying attention to every detail from start to finish to defeat Illinois.
“Experience is big, but in a tournament like this, it doesn’t matter,” he said. ”You’ve got to go out there and play your hardest, play your best, listen to the scout, execute the scout and to do the things we have been doing all year long to win games. Regardless of experience or not, we went out there and just played hard.”
Koby Brea, Butler and Otega Oweh combined for 52 points, with Brea leading the way with 23 points and three clutch 3-pointers. He hit five consecutive baskets during one stretch in the second half, putting the Fighting Illini in catchup mode the rest of the night. They pulled within 74-68 late but the Cats finished them off with some late free throws.
Butler, who was scoreless against Troy in the tournament opener, knocked down a pair of clutch 3-pointers and finished with 14 points and five assists. His defensive performance was superb, too, including a late steal that led to a three-point play from Brandon Garrison to seal the victory.
“I was just playing my game,” Butler said. “I got a brace today that was a little less restrictive. So I was able to be more free today. I was just out there playing my game, trying to be aggressive. I got some open looks that I took, and that’s what went into it.”
Pope wasn’t surprised by Butler’s outing.
"I felt confident he was going to be special,” Pope said. “It doesn’t always happen that way, but he was really special tonight. My goodness, he was really special for us and important. He’s a winner. We said it since day one, guys, we were really blessed to have a winner walk through our doors at the University of Kentucky that cares about winning.”
The game plan called for the Wildcats to take it one possession at a time and they did just that, especially in the first half, setting the tone for the final 20 minutes.
“(That was) an emphasis for us, and we had a game plan going into it,” said Kentucky guard Collin Chandler, who finished with six points, two long 3-pointers. “Everyone was solid and bought into the game plan.”
Kentucky held a slim 37-32 lead at the break but scored 10 straight to open the second half, creating the spacing it needed to overcome a late run by the Illini. Oweh, who played just six minutes in the first half, scored six points during the spurt and tallied 13 points in the second half.
“The game is so taxing and the season is so taxing, everything that all these players, our team, Illinois, everybody goes through, it’s so taxing,” Pope said. “Our guys find strength in each other. There were a couple of well-executed plays, but mostly it was our energy that our guys brought into the beginning of the second half and their intensity that was really important.”
The Wildcats fended off a late run by the Illini and made 8-of-10 free throws in the last minute for the final margin.
“I feel like God has a plan for this team,” Brea said. ”We’ve gone through a lot this year. We have faced a lot of triumphs. And for us to be here, a lot of people didn’t think we was going to be here. It’s just a testament of what God has done for us.”
Kentucky vs. Tennessee a first in NCAA Tournament
Kentucky and Tennessee have played 241 times in 115 years but never in the NCAA Tournament.
The Vols and Wildcats are meeting for the first time in the tournament when No. 2 seed Tennessee and No. 3 seed Kentucky play in the Sweet 16 on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The other Midwest game matches Purdue and top-seeded Houston.
Kentucky won both regular-season matchups this season, winning 78-73 in Knoxville and 75-63 in Rupp Arena.
What's it worth?
According to the official contract details made publicly available by the school, Pope has earned a one-year extension to go with a $50,000 bonus for getting Kentucky to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2019.
Ticket information
Tickets for the Midwest Regional in Indianapolis can be purchased by visiting NCAA.com/MBBTickets. Fans will find complete ticket information for all NCAA sites, including information on the NCAA Ticket Exchange (NCAA.com/Exchange), the official secondary marketplace for authentic NCAA Tournament tickets.
Kentucky receives a limited allotment of tickets from the NCAA. Eligible K Fund members and basketball season ticket holders who requested regional tickets in advance of the March 23 priority deadline will receive an email notification on Monday evening from the UK Ticket Office with information on whether or not their request has been fulfilled.
Lamont Butler, who had 14 points and five assists, played despite an injured shoulder in leading Kentucky past Illinois, 84-75, Sunday night in Milwaukee. (Photo by Les Nicholson)
