Kentucky 78 West Virginia 39
The No. 1 seed Kentucky Wildcats completely annihilated No. 5 seed West Virginia from wire-to-wire on Thursday night, easily handling every aspect of the game, including the Mountaineers’ vaunted press defense. Kentucky extended its NCAA-record start to 37-0 with the win and moves on to the Midwest Regional Final on Saturday. With the 39 point victory, Kentucky became the first team to ever win a Sweet 16 game by a 2-to-1 scoring margin.
For a game that had a lot of build up, including the proclamation from West Virginia guard Daxter Miles Jr. that the Wildcats would be “36-1” after the matchup, it was over rather quickly.
https://twitter.com/HasUKLost/status/581303826168168448
Kentucky forward Marcus Lee’s dunk with 12:22 remaining in the first half capped an 18-2 Wildcats run to open the game, and it was all downhill for the Mountaineers from there. The Wildcats held a 22-7 midway through the first half, and never relented.
This double-block on BillyDee Williams pretty much sums up the Mountaineers’ night.
https://vine.co/v/O3IMZjWA9wj
“I mean, what, someone’s going to come in and say we’re going to lose and they’re going to say they’re going to win. But we say at some point you have to step in the ring, we’ll lift the rope, you’ve got to come in here,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said afterwards.
Five Kentucky players finished with at least 12 points, led by forward Trey Lyles with 14. Willie Cauley-Stein finished with 8 points, a team-high 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocked shots.
West Virginia hit only one field goal in the first 8 minutes, and shot 13-of-54 (24.1 percent) from the field, becoming the fifth team Kentucky has held under 25 percent shooting this season.
Juwan Staten led West Virginia with 14 points. No other Mountaineers player had more than 9. Miles Jr. finished scoreless in 19 minutes.
The Wildcats have now reached the Regional Finals in their past five NCAA tournament appearances, dating back to 2010. They will face Notre Dame on Saturday.
