MILWAUKEE, Wis. – For the first time since 2019, the Kentucky Wildcats have punched a ticket to the Sweet Sixteen.
Branching off of Mark Pope’s first ever NCAA Tournament win as a head coach — which came on Friday night in a 76-57 first round win over the No. 14 Troy Trojans — Kentucky achieved an 84-75 second-round win over the No. 6 Illinois Fighting Illini inside of Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, silencing the venue that was packed from top to bottom with orange.
BBN was outnumbered, with Champaign, Illinois, — the location of the University of Illinois — sitting just over a three hour drive from Milwaukee, an easier trip compared to a near seven-hour haul from Lexington.
The Wildcats, who have praised the fan base and their support all season, would’ve loved to have played in a home environment, however, it wasn’t needed to secure a victory, and it especially wasn’t needed to get guard Koby Brea going.
Brea, who is averaging 11.5 points per game, went nuclear on Sunday night, scoring a game-high 23 points on 10-15 shooting from the field and 3-8 shooting from deep, serving as the top Cat to make a difference in the outcome.
“He really stepped up today,” Kentucky’s Brandon Garrison said. “One of the players who stepped up and really showed his potential to be the best shooter in the world.”
After the win, Brea is now firing a 44.1% 3-point percentage, the most efficient percentage on the team and the eighth most efficient percentage in the entire nation.
The fifth-year senior transfer from Dayton, who is fighting to keep his collegiate career afloat, went on an individual 10-0 run — yes, all by himself — with just under 12 minutes left to play in the game, adding some much needed separation onto the nine-point lead that Kentucky held.
“He’s been that guy all year, just being a consistent threat,” Kentucky guard Travis Perry said.
While scoring 23 points, Brea also amounted six rebounds, one assist and one steal to his box score, helping in more ways than just by tallying points.
The pressure of playing postseason basketball with Kentucky across his chest is clearly non-existent, as Brea also totaled 13 points, two rebounds, four assists and one steal in UK’s first-round success-story over the Trojans.
Now, Brea and the Wildcats look to dance on to the Elite Eight, but first, they will have to juke around the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers once more, a team in which they have already prevailed twice this season, back on Jan. 28 and Feb. 11 in both Knoxville and Lexington.
That rivalry game will be played inside of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Friday, March 28, at 7:39 p.m. ET, this time, just short of a three hour ride from Lexington.
