MILWAUKEE — Kentucky basketball‘s first season under Mark Pope will last at least five more days.
Third-seeded UK had no problems felling 6-seed Illinois in a second-round matchup Sunday evening in the NCAA Tournament‘s Midwest Region. The Wildcats led for nearly the entirety, easing to an 84-75 victory at Fiserv Forum.
In a game that was expected to be an ultra-competitive affair, Kentucky (24-11) simply wouldn’t allow for dramatics. UK was in front for more than 37 minutes; Illinois (22-13) was on top of the scoreboard a mere 26 seconds in a contest that saw just two lead changes and one tie.
Kentucky now can look ahead to the second weekend of the Big Dance for the first time since 2019. It takes on SEC rival Tennessee on Friday in Indianapolis, with a tipoff time still to be determined.
Here are observations from Kentucky’s second-round NCAA win over Illinoisy:
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Kentucky guard Koby Brea sets the tone early. And late.
Koby Brea accounted for UK’s first four points Sunday. Unusual for him, as he’s prone to remaining on the perimeter, both of these baskets were at the rim. The first: an assist from Lamont Butler. The second: Brea put the ball on the floor and drove to the hoop for an uncontested layup.
By the end of the half, he had nine points.
But he was even better after halftime.
Back to his normal self, he rained down fire from deep, cashing in on a pair of 3s and making six of his seven shots from the field in the final 20 minutes.
When he was done, Brea had 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting. His point total tied for the game high alongside Illinois’ Kylan Boswell.
Wildcats dominate numerous statistical categories in win
Pick a number. Any number.
It’s likely UK was better in that area Sunday.
The Wildcats excelled in points off turnovers, outscoring the Illini 26-8. UK also had more bench points (20-7), points in the paint (40-32) and fast-break points (14-11). The only department in which Illinois had a slight advantage was second-chance points, with nine to UK’s six.
That one edge was far too little to alter Sunday’s outcome, however.
Kentucky frustrates former recruiting target Will Riley
After Pope’s hire, he and his staff made Will Riley one of its chief priorities on the recruiting trail. And why not? The consensus five-star Canadian forward would be welcomed, with open arms, at any program in the U.S.
UK was a finalist for his services. Ultimately, Riley cast his lot with Illinois. And for the most part, it’s been a stellar freshman campaign for the 6-foot-8, 195-pound Ontario sensation.
Just not Sunday. He’ll want NBA talent evaluators to burn all copies of this game.
That’s because Riley had one of his worst performances of the season on the sport’s biggest stage.
The ugly stat line: five points, a 14.3% field goal percentage (1 of 7, going 0 for 3 from distance) and three turnovers. In 25 minutes of court time. His plus-minus rating of negative-14 was the game’s worst. By far. (Next closest: Teammates Ben Humrichous and Kasparas Jakucionis at negative-8.)
Should he choose to enter this year’s NBA draft, Riley could be a lottery pick.
He just wouldn’t know by his effort Sunday.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
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