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Thank you all for tuning in! I hope to see you all here on Saturday as we find out who will be the representative in the Final Four for the Midwest Bracket. 

We will be back here on Saturday night for the matchup between UK and ND. 

Five UK players reached double figures tonight, Lyles, Aa. Harrison, An. Harrison, Johnson and Booker. WCS had 8 points and 10 rebounds. 

The other big statistical category that we were all watching was turnovers. UK turned the ball over 10 times, which is around their average, while WVU turned it over 13 times. 

Kentucky also produced 13 assist on 24 field goals. 

UK won the rebounding battle, 44-32. Which was one of the topics of conversation about how this Mountaineer team could knock off the Cats tonight. 

For WVU, Juwan Staten was the only player to get into double figures in scoring and he finished with 14 points on 5-13 shooting. 

The player of the game for UK would have to be Trey Lyles who finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 ast, 1 stl and a block. 

This was one of the most dominating performances I have ever seen in the Sweet 16. From the beginning when UK was pushing the lead to 15-16 within the first 4 minutes, you knew that this game may never come back to a respectable point. 

78-39 is the final score tonight as Kentucky will move on to play Notre Dame in the Elite 8 matchup Saturday night. 

2nd Half, FInish: This game is over 78-39. and Huggins have a laugh and shake hands at half court, they are great friends. Love to see the joy shared between the two. 

2nd Half, 38.0: UK will hold WVU to the lowest points scored in the modern shot clock era in the NCAA Tournament. 

2nd Half, 38.0: UK has now been to the Elite 8, 5 times in the last 6 years. That is what you call impressive. 

2nd Half, 38.0: With a foul call, UK will send in all the walkons. 

2nd Half, 1:15: Ulis is holding the ball up top to try to kill the clock. 

2nd Half, 1:53: Ulis throws another oop from half-court to Lyles and he lays it in. 

2nd Half, 2:30: Lee gets an oop from Ulis!!!

2nd Half, 2:49: Brown knocks one down to make it 74-37

2nd Half, 2:49: Brown gets into the lane on a spin move and will go to the line for 2. 

2nd Half, 3:19: I am also curious if those players are dumb enough to talk a big game before the matchup. You just dont want to poke this bear. 

2nd Half, 3:19: Im curious what the Notre Dame players that are watching this game are thinking. You cant help but to think they are like, "uh oh".

2nd Half, 3:19: We are at the last tv timeout and it looks like Cal is going to the bench to bring in some of the guys we dont see as much, Willis and Hawkins. 

2nd Half, 3:55: WCS gets the offensive board and a put back, then Williams with a quick trigger on the other end. Score is now 74-36

2nd Half, 4:31: Staten, who has been the only bright spot for WVU scores to make it 72-34

2nd Half, 4:51: Johnson working hard on the block gets another field goal. 

2nd Half, 5:36: Willie misses both free throws. 

2nd Half, 5:36: That will be the last time Holton will see the floor because this is his senior year. 

2nd Half, 5:36: Coach Cal is still coaching his players as WCS goes to the line and Holton fouls out. 

2nd Half, 6:15: He knocks down the free throw and its now 70-32

2nd Half, 6:20: If you want a highlight reel move, SPORTCENTER Top 10, An. Harrison wraps the ball around his back, knocks down a reverse layup and gets fouled!!!! 

2nd Half, 6:40: Towns is shooting 82% from the stripe on the year, Hits 1-2 on this trip. 67-32

2nd Half, 6:40: Towns pulls down an offensive board off a WCS miss and gets fouled going up. 

2nd Half, 7:21: WVU is still working hard out there. Gets a steal and an easy bucket. 66-32

2nd Half, 7:38: The West Virginia press has looked a little better this half but the problem is that UK is just too big and hard to stop from gettting up the court. It just isn't going to work against the Cats and that makes WVU a very average defensive team. 

2nd Half, 7:38: We are at a media timeout and UK is absolutely dominating still. It looks like they are ready to get it over with but the bench players are giving it their all, trying to earn some more playing time moving forward. 

2nd Half, 7:50: Booker breaks the press again and lays the ball up. 

2nd Half, 8:03: Towns takes a charge on the defensive end. Looking like there was a lot more effort from the Cats on that trip. 

2nd Half, 8:15: Dakari gets an oop from Ulis and puts it in, 64-30

2nd Half, 8:36: Williams puts down another 3. Making it 62-30

2nd Half, 8:58: Harrison gets fouled off the ball will go to the line for 2. Knocks down both 62-28

2nd Half, 9:28: Carter puts in a short range shot to make it 60-28.

2nd Half, 9:31: Miles is getting a lot of attention from the UK fanbase. misses both free throws. 

2nd Half, 9:31: Ulis gets called for the foul, Miles will be going to the line for 2. 

2nd Half, 9:51: Trey hits both to make it 60-26

2nd Half, 9:51: Trey Lyles takes a smaller guard to the rack, spins and gets fouled. 

2nd Half, 10:37: WVU fouls again, Ulis is at the line for the 1 and 1. Hits them both, 58-26

2nd Half, 10:45: Staten with a three pointer. 56-26

2nd Half, 10:56: WCS is at the line for 2. Hits both, 56-23

2nd Half, 11:08: It looks like Kentucky fell asleep and WVU took advantage of it for a minute there. 54-23

2nd Half, 11:42: WVU makes a contested layup and they have gotten a turnover on the press, two straight times! and show a glimpse of what makes them so good. 

2nd Half, 11:58: The arena is very quiet at this point, its hard to get a crowd up for this kind of blowout. 

2nd Half, 11:58: We have now reached the under 12 timeout and Kentucky has showed an obviously superior defense. There is no gimmicks to what they do. They are just massive, quick and smart on the defensive end. This has to be the best team defense I have ever seen. They have officially held WVU to only 5 field goals in the game and 9 turnovers. SCARY

2nd Half, 12:16: UK gets the possession back. The score is 54-19. You read that right...19 points and we are almost at the under 12 timeout in the SECOND HALF.

2nd Half, 12:38: Ulis gets called on the foul. Might have swiped Staten in the nose. 

2nd Half, 12:53: Almost a steal by Towns but WVU will retain the ball. 

2nd Half, 13:21: UK forces a turnover and will take back over on offense. 

2nd Half, 13:45: WOW! A perfect breakdown of the press and Booker throws an oop to Cauley-Stein!! 

2nd Half, 14:31: Harrison misses the front end. 

2nd Half, 14:31: UK gets fouled on the offensive end, Andrew Harrison will go to the line for the 1and 1. Johnson gets a big high five from Calipari on the bench. 

2nd Half, 14:40: Dakari with another blocked shot!!!

2nd Half, 15:02: Johnson hits both and its now 52-19

2nd Half, 15:10: Dakari blocks a shot and then comes back down and draws another foul...this man is working HARD!

2nd Half, 15:38: An odd horn sounded and halted play, we will restart. 

2nd Half, 15:40: Johnson gets fouled on the inside, going to the line for two. Hits both, 50-19

2nd Half, 15:54: Brown has just picked up his 3rd foul for WVU. 

2nd Half, 15:55: Aa. Harrison is now taped up and he is ready to come back in. 

2nd Half, 15:55: What I like is that Dakari Johnson is fighting hard out there and is looking to earn more playing time going into the final weeks of the season. 

2nd Half, 15:55: Booker has missed a couple shots this half but his performance looks much better today than this past couple of weeks. 

2nd Half, 15:55: The under 16 timeout comes right after a foul on WVU. We may spend this entire half at the line as well. 

2nd Half, 16:05: Aa. Harrison is already back on the bench, all is ok. A sign of relief from the UK faithful. 

2nd Half, 16:46: The pace is picking up, Booker just missed a 3 and Aa. Harrison goes off the floor and back to the lock room, with an obvious finger injury. Lets hope its nothing bad. 

2nd Half, 17:28: Dakari with an offensive board and a putback, 48-19

2nd Half, 17:49: Another foul, just so you know, my F, O, U, and L buttons are almost wore out. 

2nd Half, 18:22: Booker with a baseline jumper to give him 10 points, 46-19

2nd Half, 18:41: Foul on Williams, thats his 3rd. 

2nd Half, 18:58: Karl with his 4th foul. 

2nd Half, 19:06: A ridiculous loose ball call on Kentucky. This doesnt even make sense. 

2nd Half, 19:19: Foul on WVU. 

2nd Half, 19:46: Williams hits 1-2 at the line. The refs are calling one foul every 46 seconds. WOW!

2nd Half, 19:46: First possession, foul on Towns. That is 3 on Towns. 

2nd Half, 20:00: WVU inbounds the ball and here we go!

Halftime: The teams are getting ready to come back out on the floor and UK leads 44-18 starting this second half. 

Halftime: In my mind, that is what Kentucky's biggest weakness is. Once they know that they are dominating their opponent, they sometimes just stop caring and want to grind out the game and move on to the next. This team is dying for competition that doesnt happen in their own practices. 

Halftime: I would expect West Virginia to make a run early on in this half. Throughout the season, when Kentucky dominates the first half, they often come out sluggish and just ready for the game to be over. They will more than likely be uninterested. 

Halftime: What would it take for WVU to get back in this game? Their pressure would have to start working and working at an all time success rate, UK would have to come out completely uninterested and shoot 10%. That would be about the only way that the Mountianeers could pull this out. 

Halftime: Huggins probably broke a bunch of things and Cal probably made a lot of smart remarks about a one handed rebound or possibly a mistake on running a play. 

Halftime: We are almost ready for the second half to start. Just a few minutes out. I can only imagine the difference in the locker room speeches at the half. 

Halftime: If you were to tell me that WVU only had 1 steal in the first half, I could have predicted this blow out. With that being such a big part of their game and its being completely neutralized, unless there is a big change, this is only going to get worse. 

Halftime: Kentucky had 8 assist to West Virginia's 2 and the most surprising stat is that the Wildcats have 4 steals and the Mountaineers only have 1! 

Halftime: WVU shot 10 free throws and UK shot 14. 

Halftime: Here are some stats from the first half. 

Halftime: These analyst are basically saying that there is no way that WVU could make this comeback. I would agree. It would take an upset of biblical porportions to make this happen. 

Halftime: Charles Barkley just said, "This game is O-V-E-R"

Halftime: We are going to take a quick break here and we will be back in a couple minutes for the halftime break down. 

Halftime: Coach Cal says, "Im worried about my team, for the last two days I have only been worried about my team."

Halftime: WVU is 5-26 from the field and UK is shooting 64%...thats all you need to know to figure out who is winning this game. 

1st Half, .1: There was a tie up and Kentucky will go into halftime with a 44-18 lead. 

1st Half, 36.0: An. Harrison to Cauley-Stein with a big oop!!! This is getting out of hand. 

1st Half, 49.3: Miles gets booed everytime he touches the ball. Should watch what you say. 

1st Half, 1:08: Staten hits a 3-pointer, 42-18

1st Half, 1:53: Dakari Johnson with a close jumper, 42-15

1st Half, 2:14: Cauley-Stein and Lyles with a double block. Embarrasing for the Mountaineer player. 

1st Half, 2:33: Lyles misses a wide open jumper from the wing. 

1st Half, 3:13: An. Harrison knocks down both from the line. 40-15

1st Half, 3:13: Andrew Harrison takes the ball right back and laughs and claps as he taunts the WVU players. 

1st Half, 3:26: Lee gets stripped down low to give WVU its first steal of the game. 

1st Half, 3:53: Andrew Harrison will shoot 2 and he gets both to make it 38-15

1st Half, 3:53: We are back and UK is at the line. 

1st Half, 3:53: If this game doesnt open up a little, we may still be playing tomorrow. 

1st Half, 3:53: The crowd, coaches and players are all expressing obvious discomfort with how this game is being called. I think everyone wanted it controlled but not anyone wanted it to be dictated like it is. Let the kids play!

1st Half, 3:53: An. Harrison gets fouled on the drive. Will go to the line after the under 4 timeout. 

1st Half, 4:23: Williams on the line again, hits 2-2, 36-15

1st Half, 4:23: Guess what? FOUL on Andrew Harrison. 

1st Half, 4:41: Lee checks back in and Andrew Harrison at the line, hits both. 36-13.

1st Half, 4:41: Geez! ANOTHER foul, WVU gets called again.

1st Half, 4:58: Staten hits both to make it 34-13

1st Half, 4:58: Ulis gets called on the foul, putting West Virginia in the bonus. Staten will go to the line for 2. 

1st Half, 5:21: Lyles hits 1-2, 34-11

1st Half, 5:21: Foul on a WVU player, seems like we might not get a game that goes without a foul for over a minute. Lyles at the line. 

1st Half, 5:33: The announcers are talking about the weakness of Kentucky being its offense and free throw shooting. Not to say that you are wrong, but a top 10 Kenpom offensive rating would strongly disagree. 

1st Half, 5:33: Ulis gets trapped and calls a timeout to save posession. 

1st Half, 5:43: Williams is back at the line and misses the front end again. 

1st Half, 5:43: Towns gets called on the foul trying to get a rebound. 

1st Half, 6:32: Holton gets blocked by Lyles and then Booker comes down and knocks down another 3!! 33-11

1st Half, 6:49: Cal doesnt know why the refs called the warning. 

1st Half, 6:53: Coach Calipari gets a coaching box warning!

1st Half, 7:03: Holton misses the front end of the 1-and-1 but Towns falls out of bounds on the rebound. 

1st Half, 7:03: UK has now commited their 8th foul, this one coming on Dakari Johnson. 

1st Half, 7:30: During the timeout, they took the Staten 3 pointer from earlier and made it a two pointer. 

1st Half, 7:36: Devin Williams at the line, hits them both to make it 33-11

1st Half, 7:36: So far, despite the predictions of the WVU player, Kentucky has indeed been able to pass the ball. 

1st Half, 7:36: The one thing that has been a non-factor this game....the West Virginia press. 

1st Half, 7:36: With Kentucky being on the line for so long in this half, its going to be very hard for WVU to gain ground being down 20 right now. 

1st Half, 7:36: Timeout on the floor. Its nice to seen Booker hitting his first shot on the floor. UK is that much better when this guy is hitting his shots. 

1st Half, 8:08: Andrew Harrison just strips the ball and bring it back up the floor, Booker with a 3!!! 30-10

1st Half, 8:25: Lyles gets fouled to put the Cats in the double bonus and hits them both, 27-10

1st Half, 8:38: Carter with a jumper gets WVU to double digits, 25-10

1st Half, 8:47: Ulis gets called on a hold....looks like the refs are trying to even at the fouls because that wasnt even close. 

1st Half, 8:59: Trey Lyles is a true talent. Takes is baseline and then draws the and-1 and goes to the line for 1. Hits it, 25-8

1st Half, 9:19: WCS loses the ball down low and WVU takes over. 

1st Half, 10:00: UK breaks the press again and Lyles scores on a long jumper. 22-8

1st Half, 10:22: WVU gets 1-2 at the line. 20-8

1st Half, 10:22: Lee just had a clean block, but they called a foul, maybe on the body? WVU at the line for 2. 

1st Half, 10:48: Holton scores to make it a 5-0 run. Then Aa. Harrison knocks down a jumper at the elbow. 20-7

1st Half, 11:14: Staten knocks down a 3 to stop the bleeding. 18-5

1st Half, 11:50: By the way, I have never seen a player come alive more in the tournament than Aaron Harrison

1st Half, 11:50: This UK team looks like they are trying to destroy WVU. Absolutely beat them down so bad that they are excited to go home. WVU is going to need to make some major changes if they are wanting to make this even respectable. 

1st Half, 11:50: Booker looked like he knew the ball was coming to him and then he saw the flight of the ball and tried to duck but it was too late, Lee's head was already at the rim and punched it while hanging over his teammate. 

1st Half, 11:50: We are at the under 12 timeout and that last dunk was crazy!!!

1st Half, 12:20: The LOB for MARCUS LEE from Ulis way out, dunked it over Booker!!!! 18-2

1st Half, 12:42: An. Harrison steals the ball and brings it back down the floor. 

1st Half, 12:56: Kentucky continues to press. 

1st Half, 12:58: Ulis missses the front end but Lee makes a crazy save in the corner and Aa. Harrison gets fouled on the drive into the paint. Hits both free throws. 16-2

1st Half, 13:05: Ulis gets fouled while being pressure and the Cats are now in the bonus. Ulis will be at the line for 1-and-1

1st Half, 13:40: My analysis so far is that UK's defense is much superior and they are playing well on offense, a recipe for an onslaught. 

1st Half, 13:40: We are at another timeout from Huggins who is trying to stop the bleeding at this point. 

1st Half, 13:42: Booker break the press and scores on a layup. This is getting ugly. 14-2. 

1st Half, 13:50: UK trying to inbound the ball and another foul on WVU

1st Half, 13:58: The Harrisons could be drafted on their big game antics alone. 

1st Half, 14:21: Staten misses the shot and An Harrison with the rebound and then brings it back down the floor in a hurry and scores on a layup. 12-2

1st Half, 15:05: Aa. Harrison with another 3!!! 10-2

1st Half, 15:25: Lyles with a big block in transition!

1st Half, 15:33: Its been a while since anyone has scored so the score still stands at 7-2.

1st Half, 15:33: UK will more than likely be in the bonus by the 12 minute mark in this half and this Kentucky teams shoots well over 70% from the line as a team and they can put a team away from the stripe. 

1st Half, 15:33: We are at the under 16 timeout and there has been a lot of bodies on the floor so far. WVU looks like they are trying to take charges down low, trying to neutralize their height disadvantage. 

1st Half, 15:41: Staten tries to pull up on WCS but it didnt work, hard to score against that man. 

1st Half, 16:20: Another foul on WVU, this game is being called tight and that does not favor the Mountaineers. 

1st Half, 16:30: Kentucky is pressing WVU and just forces a TO on the first try at it. 

1st Half, 16:30: With UK hitting outside shots, they can be an extremely scary team, possibly unbeatable...West Virginia needs to make sure they are putting pressure on the perimeter if they want to keep this game close. 

1st Half, 16:30: We are at a timeout by Bob Huggins, the Mountaineers have already commited 4 fouls early on in this game. UK's defense is looking good so far, causing problems for WVU on the inside. 

1st Half, 16:36: An. Harrison finds his brother on the wing for 3!!! 7-2 UK

1st Half, 17:12: Lyles with a runner in the paint for 2, 4-2

1st Half, 18:00: Bodies are going everywhere as UK pushes it up the floor. 

1st Half, 18:10: Staten answers with a jumper, 2-2

1st Half, 18:30: Aa. Harrison with the layup to open up the scoring, 2-0

1st Half, 18:46: Devin Williams just gets called for the offensive foul. Thats number 2 is 1:15. Thats crazy!

1st Half, 19:07: WCS gets fouled going for the offensive rebound. 

1st Half, 19:16: UK forces a backcourt violation. 

1st Half, 19:45: First trip down has a foul on Williams and an offensive foul on Towns. 

1st Half, 20:00: Tip goes to UK

Kersey, Gafney and Clark are the refs for the game. 

Williams, Holton, Miles, Browne, and Staten will start for the Mountaineers. 

Startin Lineup for UK looks normal, Harrisons, Lyles, Towns and WCS. 

Cauley-Stein looks like he is going to murder someone tonight. 

WVU players wearing shirts that say "WVU never stops".

The introductions are going on right now, the arena is loud and we are getting ready to tip-off, grab your beverage of choice and lets get ready for this exciting matchup!

Who is ready for this game?? There is nothing that gets my blood pumping like March Madness!

Quick Update: Wisconsin lead by 1 with 54 seconds to go after Paige just knocked down a huge 3! 

That video plays UK as the villian, but lets be for real, Kentucky is always the villian. Probably one of my favorite things about the fanbase is that they embrace it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxnSCl8AAaU

We are under 10 minutes away from tip-off and to get you hyped for the game, im going to link the video WVU posted for this game. Makes me ready, I cant imagine what it would do for the UK players. 

The Wildcat players were stormed with questions about the quotes and they seemed very calm in response. Towns said, "sometimes the best teams dont say as much." Well played Karl. 

Miles also predicted UK wouldn't be able to pass the ball against the Mountaineers' vaunted press

"They should be more intimidated," Miles said. "Because they're the ones who have the high standard, and we're coming for them."

He then went on to say that Kentucky doesnt play hard, especially not as hard as WVU. 

He said that he applaudes Kentucky for being 36-0 but after tonight they will be 36-1. 

The fun came from Daxter Miles, who has a history with the Harrison twins from high school. 

The more politically correct quotes came from Juwan Staten, who was asked if they press would work against UK and his answer was simple, "Why wouldnt it."

If you missed the statements from the Mountaineers during the pre-game interviews, you have missed some great material. They are confident, proud and hyped for this game. Just to update you all that missed it, I am going to post you some of the gems. 

Ive had a lot of people asking me today about the crowd makeup in Cleveland. The Big Blue Mist is here and present but not as dominating as we saw in the first two rounds of the tournament. WVU is the closest team left in the Midwest bracket to Cleveland and they have brought a nice fanbase up here, as well as ND and WSU. I would say from what I have seen it is 40% UK, 25% WVU, 15% ND, 15% WSU and 5% Neutral.  

Here come the two teams for warm-ups and they both look crazy focused right now. I knew coming into this that the Mountaineers would be locked in but I think UK may be matching that intesity. If I were at halfcourt between the two teams I would be intimidated. The tension is HIGH!

Nice thing for everyone tonight is that the game will start on time. Its already a late start, glad we didnt get an OT game before the UK - WVU game. 

Quick update: Wisconsin is currently trailing UNC 53-49 and its looking like North Carolina could knock off the second 1-seed of the tournament!

Unless you are Floyd Mayweather or Ronda Rousey....that should scare you. WCS has been posterizing the entire tournament field over the last month. 

Cauley-Stein made a quote during his pre-game interviews that made all UK fans excited. He said, "if you want to watch a good game, you need to tune into this one." 

The players have now appeared in the tunnels and they are now waiting on the conclusion on this game to start their warm-ups. 

As for what is going on currently, Notre Dame is finishing this off despite the fact the Jerian Grant, an all-american, didnt play as well offensively as we are accustomed to. 

I have come to the conclusion that its not going to be West Virginia that will beat Kentucky. Even though they are very talented, have great leadership and immeasurable heart, this UK teams biggest problem would be their lack of energy, they would have to contribute to their downfall to lose this game.  

I have been reading a lot over the last couple days from many outlets on what it would take to beat Kentucky....especially on ESPN during their 30 minute special on the topic. 

With tonights late night tip-off, it brings me back to a quote from Andrew Harrison from about 3 weeks ago when he told reporters thats its very tough to play these late night games because of how the emotions drain you throughout the day. 

Notre Dame has pulled away and it looks like they will be moving on to the Elite 8. They will be a tough out because of their picture perfect offense. 

We are about an hour out from tip-off between UK and WVU, right now we are watching the ND - WSU game and its looking like a tight matchup. Both teams are offensively gifted but not the best defensive teams. 

College Kentucky Wildcats - West Virginia Mountaineers Tip off for the NCAA college basketball game will be 9:45 pm EST in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena and we will be giving the play-by-play analysis right on this LIVE Kentucky - West Virginia.

At the moment, UK sits as a 13.5 point favorite. I think it may be safe to say that the team with the best defense on Thursday night will more than likely be the team that we see moving on to the next round. 

Statistically, these teams own a couple categories between them on defense. UK has been touted as having possibly the best defense in 30 years all season, leading the country in defensive field goal percentage, opponents assist and coming in the top 2 in several other categories such as blocks and points allowed per Kentucky Wildcats - West Virginia Mountaineers game. As for WVU, they lead the country in steals, and defensive turnovers. 

On the other hand, the Mountaineers will look to turn Kentucky over as many times as possible and win the battle of transition points and rebounding.

The Cats will look to get Devin Booker going from the outside for the first time in the last couple weeks and use their size and length to beat the press over the course of the 40 minutes, trying to lead out to easy uncontested baskets. 

Karl Anthony-Towns said it best though, when he told reporters that most of the time, the best team has the least to say. 

When the Wildcats arrived at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio they stopped to admire a mural of Lebron James, a close friend of their coach, John Calipari. But, that might have been the only time that they have not been seen with a laser focus looking toward the WVU game. 

Before the season began, Bob Huggins was unsure how the Mountaineers would play this season. He was eventually persuaded by Kevin Mackey to go full on press because of the lack of quality shooters and scorers on the team. A press that is this team’s trademark and the sole reason why they are looked at a possible upset bid to move on to the Elite 8. 

Notre Dame (31-5) and Wichita State (30-4) play in the other Sweet 16 matchup with the winners meeting Saturday for a spot in the Final Four

Like I have said multiple times this season when players from opposing teams talk a big Kentucky Wildcats - West Virginia Mountaineers game before the matchup, you shouldn’t poke the bear. Not that WVU can’t beat the Cats, because I think that its possible, but why wake up the giant that could possibly be looking ahead to the ever-important Elite 8 game. 

Reporters were quick to take those comments straight to the Kentucky players. When asked about the comments, Willie Cauley-Stein said, “It just adds fuel to the fire. It puts a different mindset in your head. You’re not just playing to win the college basketball game anymore.”

Daxter Miles was probably the most brash with his comments. Saying, “They’re not going to be able to pass the ball against us.” and then adding later on, “They don’t play hard.”

In West Virginia’s pre-game interviews, they didn’t hold back. When asked if he thought the Mountaineer press would work against the Cats, Juwan Staten said, “Why wouldn’t it? We’ve been playing this way all year, we’ve had success against everybody no matter what style or what type of players they have. Thats the only way we play and its just up to us to make it work.”

The weight of the perfect season has to be weighing down on the players now, more than ever. Even though if you listened to their pre-game interviews you wouldn’t believe that to be true. They seem confident but level-headed. There has been an obvious difference between the confidence of WVU and UK. 

Coach Cal has still been open with his players, telling them that they “better be ready”. “They’re creating havoc, they’re taking you out of your offense, they’re creating opportunities for tough shots or turnovers. They’re playing very physical, they’re coming in and letting you know its going to be body to body.” 

Truth be told, Kentucky has faced pressing defenses multiple times this year already. Against Arkansas and Louisville, they faced a very rough, hands-on style of play that pressed a majority of the live Kentucky Wildcats - West Virginia Mountaineers College Basketball game. Even though the Mountaineers will bring more pressure than both of those teams, its not going to be some kind of shocking revelation for UK on the court. 

If you don’t live in a cave, you have undoubtedly heard about the WVU press defense and how it will effect the Wildcats. There nickname, “Press Virginia” didn’t come without reason. 

The Kentucky Wildcats are now 36-0 after they pulled past a rugged Cincinnati team last weekend in the Round of 32. They will now face a team that is equally physical as the Bearcats but much more feisty, the West Virginia Mountaineers. 

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About the author
Nate Smith
Graduate of Lindsey Wilson College, BA Communications. Lover of all things basketball from High school recruiting to the NBA. Husband, travel enthusiast, writer.