(MILWAUKEE) – Kobe Brea had 23 points and Otega Oweh added 15 to pace third-seeded Kentucky to an 84-75 victory over No. 6 Illinois in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region on Sunday.
Kentucky (24-11) will face second-seeded Tennessee in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Indianapolis.
Kentucky hit its first five shots of the second half for a 10-0 run. Amari Williams turned into a steal into a breakaway jam to put the Wildcats up 47-32 to cap the run three minutes into the frame.
Brea scored 10 consecutive points for Kentucky for a 70-54 lead with 9 1/2 minutes remaining.
“Obviously it felt really good, but at the end of the day, you’re focused on the game and winning the game,” Brea said. “Those things happened as you’re competing. My teammates — I felt it this whole year, honestly, but today they kept confiding in me. And I can see how much they trust me and how much confidence they put in me.”
Kylan Boswell’s jumper from the right wing pulled the Illini within 74-68 with 1:36 left, but Andrew Carr countered with a drive to make it 76-68 with 1:13 left.
The Wildcats hit eight free throws over the final 1:01 to preserve the victory and advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.
Boswell had 23 points, Tomislav Ivisic 19 and Kasparas Jakucionis 13 for the Fighting Illini (22-13).
Kentucky scored 26 points off 14 Illinois turnovers and had 18 assists on its 32 field goals.
“That game was decided at the start of the game and the start of the second half. Pretty much described by 26 points off turnovers, so 13 of our 14 turnovers were live ball. You can’t turn the ball over,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.
Brea hit 10 of 16 shots, including 3 of 8 beyond the arc, and Oweh was 6 of 12 from the floor. Lamont Butler added 14 points and Williams pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
“We’re just battle tested, throughout this whole conference. Conference was a beast,” Butler said. “We had a lot of good teams that we played, but we stayed resilient, stayed together. And it showed today. Everybody was playing with love and passion for one another, and we can’t focus about anything but the next game.”
The Fighting Illini had a 44-36 advantage on the boards, including 12 offensive rebounds, but had just a 9-6 edge in second-chance points.
Kentucky hit 10 of its first 19 shots to open an early double-digit lead. Brea’s 3-pointer put the Wildcats up 23-13 with 9:40 left in the half.
Jakucionis’ 3- pointer from the top pulled the Fighting Illini within 35-32 with 36 seconds remaining in the first half.
Kentucky’s Trent Noah was fouled on a long 3-point attempt with 1.5 seconds left and hit two of three from the line for a 37-32 lead at the break.
Boswell hit 5 of 7 shots in the first half, while the rest of the Fighting Illini were a combined 7 of 21.
–Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media
