Illinois falls to Kentucky in second round of March Madness
March Madness turned to March sadness for the Fighting Illini Sunday, as they lost to Kentucky 84-75 and were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.
The young, talented team battled through injuries and illness and fought to the end, but was ultimately unable to make it back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances for the first time in 20 years.
Illinois had looked so impressive in an 86-73 first-round victory over Xavier that it entered Sunday's game favored by 2 1/2 points, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
But sloppy play and inconsistent offense reared their ugly head once again Sunday. The Illini committed four turnovers in the first 5 1/2 minutes Sunday as Kentucky went on an early 9-0 run to pull ahead for good.
After falling behind by 12, Illinois only trailed 35-32 when Kentucky's Trent Noah drew a foul on Jake Davis while attempting a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in the first half. Noah made two of the ensuing three free throws to make it 37-32 at the break, and then Kentucky opened the second half with 10 straight points.
Amari Williams capped the spurt by converting a steal into a dunk, giving Kentucky a 47-32 lead with 17:10 left.
Illinois got within 74-68 on Kylan Boswell's jumper with 1:36 remaining, but the Illini couldn't get closer.
Boswell scored 23 points, Tomislav Ivisic 19 and Kasparas Jakucionis 13 for the sixth-seeded Illini.
The Illini have now finished the season 22-14.
As the finale of this up-and-down year set in, the dejected players were left to ponder what might have been.
In today's transient world of college basketball, it is all but certain that all but a handful of players on the Illini roster will not be returning. The talented freshmen Jakucionis and Will Riley are expected to enter the NBA Draft.
As for Kentucky, (24-11), the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region, faces No. 2 seed and Southeastern Conference rival Tennessee on Friday in Indianapolis. In winning Sunday, Kentucky advanced beyond the NCAA Tournament's opening weekend since they reached the Elite Eight in 2019.
The Kentucky Wildcats have already beaten the Tennessee Volunteers twice this season.
Mark Pope, who never won an NCAA Tournament game in five seasons at BYU, broke through in his first season at Kentucky. Pope, a forward on Kentucky's 1996 national championship team, took over when John Calipari left for Arkansas in the wake of a first-round loss to Oakland last year.
Now both Pope and Calipari are in the Sweet 16. Calipari got there when Arkansas upset St. John's 75-66 in the West Region on Saturday.
Kentucky's Koby Bream matched a career-high 23 points Sunday. Brea, a fifth-year senior who spent his first four seasons at Dayton, shot 10 of 16 from the floor and scored 10 straight Kentucky points during one second-half stretch. Otega Oweh had 15 points and Lamont Butler added 14 for Kentucky.
Takeaways
Illinois: The Illini's standout players from Friday didn't do enough against Kentucky. Will Riley scored 22 points and shot 8 of 12 against Xavier. He shot 1 of 7 and had five points Sunday. ... Jakucionis had 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in the Xavier game. He had two assists and six turnovers Sunday. ... Illinois shot 28.1% (9 of 32) from 3-point range after making 40% of its attempts from beyond the arc against Xavier.
Kentucky: The Wildcats showcased their depth in the first half, in which Oweh, their leading scorer, played 6 minutes due to foul trouble. Kentucky led 13-10 when Oweh picked up his second foul and outscored the Illini 24-22 while he was on the bench for the remainder of the half.
Up next
Kentucky beat Tennessee 78-73 in Knoxville on Jan. 28 and 75-64 in Lexington on Feb. 11.
