Advertisement

Kentucky dominates West Virginia start to finish

West Virginia freshman Daxter Miles Jr. will surely think twice the next time he makes a bold prediction.

Kentucky made sure of that, as the unbeaten Wildcats embarrassed Miles and the Mountaineers 78-39 in a Sweet 16 mismatch on Thursday night.

Advertisement

The Mountaineers' press was rendered irrelevant because Kentucky (37-0) simply refused to let them score. West Virginia was limited to an ugly .241 field goal percentage, turned it over 13 times and trailed by as many as 41.

While its defense justifiably grabs most of the headlines, Kentucky's offense played at another level against what is usually a turnover-forcing machine. The Wildcats coughed it up 10 times -- half of what WVU usually forces -- and shot a solid 48.0 percent from the floor and 26-of-32 from the foul line.

Trey Lyles scored 14 points, Andrew Harrison added 13, and Aaron Harrison, Devin Booker and Dakari Johnson each chipped in 12 for the victors.

Standing in the way of Kentucky's fourth Final Four appearance in five years is Notre Dame, which rolled past Wichita State in the earlier game at Quicken Loans Arena. The Midwest Region final will take place on Saturday.

Advertisement

Juwan Staten led the Mountaineers (25-10) with 14 points, while Miles, who was quoted as saying Kentucky was going to be "36-1," was held without a point.

The rout started almost as soon as West Virginia's biggest interior presence, Devin Williams, went to the bench with two fouls 1:13 into the game.

By the time Williams checked back in five minutes later, Kentucky was holding a 14-2 lead that only grew larger. Aaron Harrison and Lyles combined to outscore the Mountaineers by themselves (22-19) in the first half, and the Wildcats held a comfortable 44-18 cushion at the break.

West Virginia missed 10 straight shots early on and connected on an ugly 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from the field in its lowest scoring half of the season.

Oddly enough, the second half played out almost identical to the first. The Mountaineers' missed their initial 11 shots, and the Wildcats' subsequent 10-0 run stretched the lead to 54-19.

In the end, Andrew Harrison's around-the-back, no-look, over-the-shoulder bucket while being fouled summed up the blowout.

Game Notes

This is the first time a team has started a season 37-0 ... Kentucky has advanced to the regional finals 35 times .... West Virginia last reached the Elite Eight in 2010 ... Kentucky is 21-3 in NCAA Tournament games under head coach John Calipari ... The Wildcats have won nine of the last 10 meetings, including a third-round victory in the 2011 NCAA Tournament ... West Virginia's previous scoring low this season came in a 77-50 loss at Texas on Jan. 17.

Advertisement

[SportsNetwork.com]

Latest Headlines