Koby Brea scored 23 points and Lamont Butler added 14 points and 5 assits as Kentucky advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament by beating Illinois, 84-75, Sunday night in the second round at Fiserv Forum.
Kentucky opened the second half on an 10-0 run, thanks to another block from big man Amari Williams, a bucket from Otega Oweh and hot shooting from Butler, who was at the time a perfect 4 of 4 with 12 points.
In a stellar game between two evenly matched teams, Kentucky really only had one standout advantage over Illinois on paper. Steals. Kentucky averaged 7.1 steals per game this season compared to 4.3 for Illinois – and the Wildcats used that advantage to set the tone for the game and take a 37-32 halftime lead.
BOX SCORE: Kentucky 84, Illinois 75
Kentucky has so many defensive ball hawks – Butler, Brea, even Colin Chandler – that Illinois struggled offensively, shooting just 5 of 14 early on. And those steals only aided Kentucky’s offense, as Chandler’s steal led to a three pointer from Butler.
Kentucky already had four steals in the first 10 minutes and the Wildcats took the 25-15 lead with 8:00 left and 8 steals by that point.
Illinois fought back with several baskets from Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic and cut Kentucky’s lead to 10 when Lamont Butler stole the ball – Kentucky’s 13th of the game – and dished to Garrison to stop the rally. Kentucky had the 74-62 lead with 3:21 left.
Illinois was led buy Kylan Boswell’s 23 points.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kentucky takes down Illinois at Fiserv Forum to advance to Sweet 16
