Saturday Quickies: Elite Edition

What. A. Game. The Kentucky Wildcats beat a very good defensive Houston Cougars team last night thanks to an all time gutcheck performance from PJ Washington and a clutch three point shot from Tyler Herro.

The Cats had a second half eleven point lead and were looking to cruise to a win but the Cougars had different plans. They locked down on defense and UK went through a prolonged scoring stretch while Houston started to nail three pointers.

Instead of wilting like they did against the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC Tournament, the Cats instead rallied on both defense and offense. PJ Washington blocked a shot that led to a Tyler Herro three and Ashton Hagans defended a Houston drive to the basket. After that defensive stop and rebound by Hagans, that was all she wrote.

Now the Cats will face a red hot Auburn Tigers team on Sunday in the Elite Eight. Bruce Pearl’s team has been knocking off blue bloods left right having already defeated the Kansas Jayhawks and the North Carolina Tar Heels by double digits. Auburn scored more than 90 points in both games.

It will be a quick turnaround for John Calipari’s team but we have already seen that they can lock in on a game plan in less than 48 hours.

This is John Calipari’s seventh Elite Eight in ten years at UK.

Tweets of the Day

Cal’s run at UK is going to be remembered as the greatest in the history of the school when it’s all said and done.

As great as Tyler Herro’s shot was, this is 100% right.

Biggest block since Anthony Davis vs. UNC?

Quickies

Washington makes Houston feel the pain | WDRB- Washington was out for two weeks with a foot injury but he didn’t lose a step in his return. His 16 points and game saving block were massive for Kentucky.

‘Boy Wonder’ rescues the Cats | Lexington Herald Leader- After missing his first free throw since January, Tyler Herro was worried that something was off. PJ Washington told him to shake it off and that he was ‘Boy Wonder’. Herro proved it late with a dagger three and two free throws to seal the deal.

No way was Washington sitting out | Cats Pause- Washington couldn’t make it through the early shootaround because of the pain in his foot but made the game time decision to battle through it. Thanks in large part to him, the path to the Final Four is clear for the Cats.

Herro’s three puts Cats over Cougars | CBS- While Herro’s three was massive, his defense once again was fantastic throughout the game.

Zack Thompson’s sutout propels Cats to win | UK Athletics- Thompson pitched a complete game shutout to get the Cats a much needed 5-0 win over Georgia.

Reseeding the Elite Eight | ESPN- The Cats remain a two seed while the Michigan State Spartans and the Texas Tech Red Raiders jump to the one seed line.

Auburn Tigers run past North Carolina | CBS- The most stunning result came in the Midwest Region last night as the Tigers thoroughly dominated the Tar Heels. But the win didn’t come without cost as Cuma Okeke suffered a knee injury that may sideline him for the Elite Eight.