MILWAUKEE — Third-seeded Kentucky will face a maturing Illinois team getting healthy at the right time in a second-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region on Sunday.
Sixth-seeded Illinois (22-12) advanced with an 86-73 victory over 11th-seeded Xavier on Friday. Kentucky (23-11) pulled away in the second half for a 76-57 victory over No. 14 seed Troy.
Illinois, which was beset at midseason by illness and injuries, got 44 points from three freshmen against Xavier. Will Riley had a team-high 22 points, and Kasparas Jakucionis had 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Morez Johnson Jr., who returned in time for the Big Ten Conference tournament after missing five games with a broken wrist, added six points and five rebounds in about 13 minutes.
Sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic had 20 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Illini to a 45-25 advantage on the boards.
“We’re not freshmen anymore,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “These guys have been playing 30-plus minutes a game. I’ve said it all along: I like their ceiling because I know how talented they are.”
Jakucionis averages 15.0 points and 5.7 rebounds a game, and Ivisic adds 12.8 points and a team-best 7.7 boards. Riley, Kylan Boswell and Tre White also average in double figures.
Kentucky broke open its against Troy with a 16-0 run midway through the second half. Otega Oweh had 20 points, and Koby Brea, Andrew Carr and Brandon Garrison had 13 apiece.
The Wildcats have five players averaging in double figures in scoring. Oweh leads with 16.4 ppg, Brea adds 11.5 and Lamont Butler 11.0. Amari Williams averages 10.9 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds.
Jaxson Robinson, the second-leading scorer at 13.0 points per game, underwent season-ending surgery after injuring his wrist in early February.
Kentucky, which hit 10 of 26 shots from beyond the arc vs. Troy, is averaging 9.6 3-pointers per game. The Wildcats also had 23 assists on 28 field goals against the Trojans.
“It was ball protection. It was guys being diligent about being aggressive,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “It has to do with being super aggressive. The Troy defense is terrific. They’re a great defensive team. They’re incredibly disruptive.”
Pope, a captain on Kentucky’s 1996 national title team, is in his first season at Kentucky after five seasons at BYU.
Underwood said Kentucky would present specific challenges, but that’s the same with every opponent.
“I just think you’ve got to take every game for what it’s worth,” he said. “There’s a different opponent. This one’s going to be Kentucky. They’re seeded ahead of us. We’ll be an underdog in this one. We’ve got to go out and and do things differently against them.”
Tomislav Ivisic twin brother, Zvonimir, played last season at Kentucky as a freshman before transferring to Arkansas.
“I hope it is going to be a fun game,” said Tomislav Ivisic, a 7-foot-1 sophomore from Croatia. “My brother played there last year. He told all the best things about Kentucky. He had a great time there, and I’m looking forward to playing that game.”
–Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media
