After being down 41-33 at the half, No. 4 seed Kentucky came back strong in the second half of today’s third round game against No. 5 West Virginia, outscoring them 38-22 and pulling far ahead within the final minutes. This was a game that went back and forth for the majority of the time, with both Kentucky and West Virginia going on multiple runs in each half.
Late in the game, the biggest difference between the two clubs was on rebounds. While both teams had a similar amount of boards for the majority of the game, Kentucky tightened up and dominated late, finishing with six more rebounds than West Virginia. Josh Harrellson and Terrence Jones were both key players for the Wildcats, racking up a combined 17 boards (and six offensive rebounds). Harrellson was also the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer with 15 points. Star player Brandon Knight recovered from his disappointing second round performance, scoring a career high 30 points.
The Mountaineers didn’t go down without a fight, though, as Joe Mazzula racked up a team-leading 20 points and Kevin Jones pulled in 9 rebounds. As a whole, their team struggled with hitting three-pointers late in the game, only sinking one in the entire second half.
With this victory, Kentucky moves on to the Sweet Sixteen, where they will play the winner of tomorrow’s Ohio State / George Mason match-up.