Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Illinois (NCAA Tournament Second Round)
Kentucky and Illinois will meet in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Sunday in Milwaukee (5:15 p.m. ET, CBS). Both teams won first-round games on Friday evening to earn the right to meet in Sunday’s contest.
The Cats topped Troy 76-57, while Illinois stopped Xavier 86-73. Now, the teams will meet for the first time in 41 years. That game was in the Mideast Regional championship game, which was played at Rupp Arena. In that contest, Melvin Turpin had 13 points and Sam Bowie added 11 as the Cats beat the Illini 54-51 to advance to the 1984 Final Four.
The 2024-25 Cats know that Illinois is a very talented team and that they must be prepared to bring their best on Sunday, according to forward Ansley Almonor.
“Illinois is a big physical team,” Almonor said. “We’ve been accustomed to playing in the SEC. So we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for the battles. It’s going to be a physical battle in the paint. We’ll have to be able to crash the boards offensively and defensively and keep them off the boards while we’re at it.”
UK freshman Trent Noah agreed with Almonor.
“Obviously Illinois is a really talented team,” Noah said. “They’re very well coached and they get up a lot of threes as well. So I just think the main thing is we have to keep them off the glass.”
While the Cats know that defending what Illinois does is very important, Kentucky knows that playing their type of game is perhaps even more crucial.
“We just have to do us,” Noah said. “We’ve got play our solid basketball, play our game, get out in transition, get our threes up and wedge.”
Fellow freshman Travis Perry emphasized the same points.
“(Just) play our game on offense, get out in transition, try and dictate the pace that we want to play at,” Perry said. “And that should lead to us being successful.”
Kentucky head coach Mark Pope knows that Illinois is a very talented team. The UK staff has spent time preparing for the Illini since Friday night.
“Last night we dug in a scout, kind of stayed there all night,” Pope said. “This morning met with the team, digging in on a scout this afternoon, had a really nice experience with our guys on the floor, and we’ll go back and keep trying to figure out this terrific Illinois team.”
Kentucky hopes to carry the momentum from Friday’s win into Saturday’s contest against Illinois.
Cats Top Troy in NCAA Tournament First Round
Otega Oweh scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds as third-seeded Kentucky beat Troy on Friday 76-57 in the first round of the Midwest Regional of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Oweh added six assists and a pair of steals in the victory.
Kentucky (23-11) got 13 points from Koby Brea, who hit three of six from beyond the arc, and 13 points from Andrew Carr. Brandon Garrison came off the bench to score 13 points for the Cats.
UK hit 28 of 59 (47.5 percent) from the floor, including 10 of 26 (38.5 percent) from behind the arc. Kentucky made 10 of 16 at the line, while Troy made just five of nine. The Cats had 23 assists compared to 14 for the Trojans.
Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament
Kentucky is in the midst of its 62nd NCAA Tournament apperance, the most by any Division I program. In addition to the most apperances, Kentucky also holds the record for the most NCAA Tournament games played (186) and ranks second all-time in NCAA Tournament wins (131) behind North Carolina. The Cats have won eight National Championships and reached 17 Final Fours.
Kentucky improved to 50-12 in NCAA Tournament openers and has won 27 of its last 30 opening-round games. This marks the fifth time that UK has earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the second consecutive year the Cats have done so. Kentucky is 7-4 in the tournament as a No. 3 seed all-time including 3-1 in the first round. The third-seeded Cats reached the Elite Eight of the 1999 NCAA Tournament, the program’s deepest run as a No. 3 seed.
Know Your Opponent: Illinois
Kentucky is 11-4 all-time against Illinois in the series’ history, including 4-0 in the NCAA Tournament, but the last such meeting came in the 1983-84 season. UK prevailed 54-51 in the NCAA Tournament.
Illinois is 22-12 overall and went 12-8 in the Big Ten. They’re led in scoring by Kasparas Jakucionis who averages 15.0 points per game. The Illini have five players logging double-digit points. Tomislav Ivisic, former UK player Zvonimir Ivisic’s twin brother, leads the way on the boards at 7.7 per game. He’s also chipping in with 12.8 points per game and shooting nearly 50% from the field, while draining 50 3-pointers.
The Illini rank among the top 15 offenses in the country per efficiency, and are in the top 20 of offensive rebound percentage. Illinois averages 83.9 points per game and 42.6 rebounds per outing.
