CLEVELAND – Trey Lyles is just 19 years old, but his game resembles that of two 36- and 38-year-old NBA superstars.Lyles grew up logging many hours on the basketball court with his dad, working on shooting angles and the fundamentals of the game. He also watched tape of his favorite players and tried to mimic their every move.The end result is a guy who is coming into his own on the biggest stage, averaging a team-high 11.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the NCAA Tournament. According to junior Willie Cauley-Stein, Lyles’ emergence as a force was simply a matter of time.”You knew it (in) workouts, you could see the talent level, you could see how he could be a huge factor on a team,” Cauley-Stein said. “It’s just the fact, when you learn to play in a college setting or play in the college game like that. It started in workouts. You could see him starting to take over a workout or him embracing being tired and being fatigued and still making shots and still doing stuff that’s not normal.”And now the guy UK head coach John Calipari routinely labels as Kentucky’s X-Factor is causing excruciating headaches to opposing defenses and offenses due to his size and athleticism.”For his size, the things that he does, I’m saying it again, he’s the X-Factor for us,” Coach Cal said after UK’s first rout of Arkansas. “He’s the one that makes us go from pretty good, really good, to uh-oh, what is this I’m watching?”His favorite player is Kobe Bryant, and his game resembles both a blend of the athletic, 6-foot-6 guard and 6-11 forward Tim Duncan, known as the Big Fundamental. This all makes perfect sense, since the 6-10 Lyles is a natural four playing as a three for the Wildcats.”Kobe is my favorite player so I watch him a lot,” Lyles said. “I watch his workout tapes, highlights and stuff like that. Try to learn from guys. Then again, Tim Duncan is another guy I learned from just being fundamentally sound, learning how to use footwork and angles off the glass, stuff like that.”Cauley-Stein says Lyles has an “old-man game” with the way he doesn’t get sped up and with how smooth he plays.”Plays angles and knows how to use his body,” Cauley-Stein said. “You can’t really teach it. It’s something that you acquire over time.”Against Notre Dame, a team known for its 3-point shooting and offensive prowess, Lyles’ defense and offense will both be called upon for Kentucky to advance to back-to-back Final Fours. Only this Final Four would be even more special for the Indianapolis native.”It would mean a lot,” Lyles said. “It would be a great moment for me and my family. It would be exciting to be able to play on that stage in front of a home crowd and stuff like that. It would be exciting.”I said I wanted to win a national championship in Indy. Now we have the opportunity to do that, but we have to make sure we get there first.”Wildcats, Irish show mutual respect before showdownAgainst West Virginia, the trash talk from the Mountaineers prior to the two teams’ Sweet-16 showdown fueled the Wildcats’ fire in a big way. The end result was a UK rout, as the Cats jumped out to an early lead and kept their foot down throughout the game en route to winning 78-39, tying a Sweet 16 record for margin of victory.Either Notre Dame saw what happened when you poke the bear – err, Wildcats – or the Irish just go about their business in a different manner. Either way, the trash talk from the Sweet 16 didn’t carry over to the Elite Eight.”Everyone talks about their size but if you look at Kentucky’s team overall, they’re a fabulous team,” senior swingman Pat Connaughton said. “In the way they’re unselfish, the way they always talk about how they have nine McDonald’s All-Americans, and none of them really care about their stats; they care about winning. So they’re the true testament of a team.””They’re really good,” sophomore guard Demetrius Jackson said. “They’ve got tall guys inside, they’ve got tall guys on the perimeter, they’re just really good all over.””You just know you’re going to have to bring your A game,” senior All-America guard Jerian Grant said. “When a team is that dominant, you can’t mess around with the game, you can’t come out and not be ready to play from the jump.”Kentucky, for its part, showed similar praise when asked to assess their upcoming matchup with the Irish, which sport the second most efficient offense in the country.”Notre Dame is a great offensive team,” Andrew Harrison said, “it’s going to be a big challenge.””They’re one of the best 2-point shooting teams and one of the best 3-point shooting teams and one of the most efficient teams in the country,” Coach Cal said. “They score in bunches, they can score at the rim, layups, post-ups. They can score on breakdowns. But what I’ve seen in the last five games is they’re really defending. They’re playing more physical, they’re playing tougher, their rotations are tighter and I think that’s why they’ve gone on this run, because now they can get to 75, 80, and they make it hard for you to do it now.”Willie Cauley-Stein says the lack of trash talk isn’t a problem though, and that with a berth into the Final Fourth on the line, looking for an extra edge isn’t necessary.”I think guys are self-motivated,” Cauley-Stein said, “and I think guys know exactly how they see themselves playing in the game and going to the game ready to play and take care of business.”Aaron Harrison gives update on fingerMuch of Thursday night’s demolition of West Virginia was a beautiful sight for Big Blue Nation. Not everything was so pretty though when Aaron Harrison reached for the ball early in the second half and pulled back to reveal his left ring finger wasn’t in the exact place it was supposed to be.”It was awful,” Coach Cal said, “and then I kept looking like, is that his right hand or is that his left hand, I couldn’t figure it out, and he said left, I said you’re good, tape that thing up. And I put him back in, I just wanted him to take a shot or two like to make sure he would feel OK.”After the game, Harrison said his hand was fine and he would definitely play against the Fighting Irish. On Friday, he echoed those sentiments and said he didn’t expect it to play a big role Saturday evening.”It’s a little sore but it’s not going to be a big factor in the game,” Harrison said. “I’m doing a lot better and continue to get treatment and things like that.”Cats playing with something to proveAt 37-0, Kentucky has tied the 10th-ongest winning streak in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history. It’s also set an NCAA record for the best start to a season in history.Not bad, right?Except, Aaron Harrison said there’s more left to prove for the Cats. Much more.”We just want to prove that we’re one of the best teams ever,” Harrison said. “Just to prove that I think we definitely need to win a national title. That’s our goal and that’s what we’re working for.”