GREENSBORO, N.C. — For the first time in four years, Kentucky has won an NCAA Tournament game.
The Wildcats defeated the Providence Friars, 61-53, on Friday night, ending an embarrassing skid without a March Madness victory and advancing to the second round of this year’s tournament.
Oscar Tshiebwe was unstoppable on the boards Friday night, tallying 25 rebounds despite spending nearly five minutes on the bench with foul trouble midway through the second half. That set a new Kentucky record for most rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game, surpassing Jerry Bird’s 24 rebounds against Iowa in 1956. Tshiebwe also had eight points.
Antonio Reeves led the Wildcats in scoring with 22 points, hitting four 3-pointers in the first half and making some key baskets down the stretch.
Jacob Toppin was UK’s offensive catalyst in the early going. He finished with 18 points.
The Cats battled from the beginning of this one, but they could barely make a shot in the early going. UK started 1 for 8 from the field and missed 12 of its first 16 shots before catching fire.
From there, the Wildcats made six consecutive shots — including two 3-pointers from Reeves — to turn a 13-10 deficit into a 24-21 advantage.
But that wasn’t the most impressive run of the Wildcats’ first half.
Up 30-25 with a little more than two minutes left before halftime, Reeves buried another 3, Toppin blocked a Bryce Hopkins dunk attempt at the rim, and Reeves nailed yet another 3 as a result of that defensive play, lifting Kentucky to a 36-25 lead in a matter of 29 seconds.
The Cats led the Friars 38-31 at halftime.
Providence cut Kentucky’s lead to 38-35 right out of the break, but back-to-back baskets from Cason Wallace extended the Cats’ advantage back to seven points, and it was never a one-possession game after that. Both teams struggled to find points after halftime.
There was a span of more than five minutes midway through the second half in which neither team made a shot from the floor and only one total point was scored. Kentucky went nearly six minutes without a point in that stretch.
Hopkins, who played sparingly at Kentucky as a freshman last season before becoming Providence’s star player in his second year of college, finished with seven points on 2-of-9 shooting for the Friars on Friday night.
Providence, an 11 seed, finished the season with a 21-12 record and lost five of its final six games.
The 6-seeded Wildcats improved to 22-11 going into their round of 32 game Sunday.
This was Kentucky’s first NCAA Tournament victory since the Wildcats defeated Houston in the 2019 Sweet 16. UK lost the following game to Auburn in overtime, falling one win short of the Final Four.
Since then, the Cats missed out on a trip to the 2020 tournament after it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UK likely would have been a 3 seed in that tourney. The Cats then finished with a 9-16 record in the 2020-21 season and were upset by 15-seeded Saint Peter’s in the first round last year, arguably the most stunning postseason loss in program history.
UK point guard Sahvir Wheeler, who has not played since Feb. 4 due to an ankle injury, remained sidelined for Friday’s game. Wheeler indicated Thursday afternoon that he would be able to return against the Friars, but John Calipari determined at Friday’s shootaround that he was not healthy enough to play.
Wheeler wore his No. 2 jersey over his warmups on the Kentucky bench.
