Kentucky 64 Cincinnati 51
The No. 1 seed Kentucky Wildcats pulled away from eighth-seeded Cincinnati in the second half to move to 36-0, and are now five games away from completing a perfect season.
Nothing was easy to come by for either team in a game that had more blocks (15) than assists (14), and was quite chippy throughout.
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The Wildcats were aggressive in their attack of the basket, making 20 of 28 free throws as a result. Cincinnati didn’t shoot a free throw until early in the second half and finished 9 of 14 from the line.
Cincinnati got within three points on several occasions early in the second half, the last time at 35-32 on a jumper from Octavius Ellis with 15:38 remaining. Offensive rebounds created more opportunities, but the Bearcats weren’t able to convert. Cincinnati outrebounded the Wildcats 44-34, with half of them coming on the offensive end.
Sophomore guard Aaron Harrison led Kentucky with 13 points, and Trey Lyles finished with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while adding an assist, one steal, and two blocks. Harrison’s three-point shot with 46 seconds remaining in the first half capped a 10-0 Kentucky run to close the first half.
Troy Caupain led Cincinnati with 13 points, but shot just 4-of-17 from the field.
He also had what could very well be the shot of the tournament so far:
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The Bearcats as a team shot just 20-of-61 (31.7 percent), including 9-of-35 in the second half.
Kentucky moves on to the Sweet 16, where they will face the winner of Maryland/West Virginia on Thursday.
