Kentucky Beat: Lamont Butler, Wildcats set the tone on defense to turn over Illinois, advance to first Sweet 16 in six years

Back on February 4th, the Kentucky Wildcats gave up 55 points in the first half to Ole Miss. ESPN’s Karl Ravech said on the broadcast of the game that Kentucky was really feeling Lamont Butler’s absence. Kentucky’s best on-ball defender was out with a left shoulder injury, and the Wildcats gave up 98 points to Ole Miss that night. It was a low point in the season, but it turned out to be the turning point of the season for the Wildcats on the defensive end.

The Wildcats were 112th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency after that loss at Ole Miss. After an 84-75, NCAA Tournament Second Round win over the No. 6 seed Illinois Fighting Illini on Sunday afternoon, with the Wildcats advancing to their first Sweet 16 since 2019, Kentucky is all the way up to 45th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. In addition, according to BartTorvik, the Wildcats have the 11th-best defense in the country over their last 13 games.

“We have unbelievable leadership on our team, and it comes from a wide variety of guys, different slices of it,” Kentukcy Head Coah Mark Pope said. “And when you have players that are leading the charge, things get better.

“I’ve never seen a team that has gone from 112 to 45 in the last six weeks of the season. I’ve never seen it, and that is a credit to our guys. [It] gives you a sense of our players.”

Butler is Kentucky’s defensive leader, and he set the tone for the Wildcats on defense Sunday. He had three steals, including one in the first two minutes of the game that led to a Koby Brea fast break lay-up and Kentucky’s first two points of the game. It was also the first of 14 steals for Kentucky, as the Wildcats defense completely flummoxed Illinois’s young, but talented, offense.

“[Lamont] is such a quick study and a big-moment guy,” Pope said. “I felt confident he was going to be special. It doesn’t always happen that way, but he was really special tonight. My goodness, he was really special for us and important.

“And he’s a winner. We said it since day one, guys, we were really blessed to have a winner walk through our are doors at the University of Kentucky that cares about winning. It is in his soul from a deep, deep place about like I am going to rise up to the occasion for my team. He loves his guys, and he wants to perform for his guys.”

Bad shoulder, bad ankle. It didn’t matter. Butler showed his warrior-like toughness Sunday afternoon, and it wasn’t just on the defensive end. His 14 points were the third-most among Wildcats scorers. Butler also hit two three-pointers and was four-of-five from the field overall.

“I was just playing my game,” Butler said. “I got a brace [on my left shoulder] today that was a little less restrictive. So I was able to be more free today. I was just out there playing my game, trying to be aggressive. I got some open looks that I took, and that’s what went into it.”

With 4:38 to play in the second half, Kentucky’s Otega Oweh had just missed a lay-up with the Wildcats ahead 72-62. Illinois had a chance to cut into the lead and make things nervous for Big Blue Nation, but Butler wasn’t about to let that happen. Tailing behind Illinois’s Kasparas Jakucionis, a potential Lottery Pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, Butler reached in to steal the ball and then found Brandon Garrison for a lay-up that resulted in an and-one and 74-62 Wildcats lead.

While it wasn’t the exclamation point on the game, for the Fighting Illini went on a 6-0 run to make it 74-68 with 1:36 to play, it was a crucial play to keep the momentum on the Wildcats side.

“It was just an instinctual play, nothing more into it,” Butler said. “But I’m glad we got the win because of that.”

Instincts come from experience. Experience is something that not only Butler has, but also something that Koby Brea has. The graduate shooting guard from Dayton played in the NCAA Tournament with the Flyers last year while being one of the best three-point shooters in the country.

On Sunday, Brea led all Kentucky scorers, and tied a game-high, with 23 points on 10-16 shooting and three three-pointers. Fourteen of Brea’s 23 points came in the second half, where he was 6-8 from the floor and 2-4 from three-point range.

“Obviously it felt really good [to be in a groove], but at the end of the day, you’re focused on the game and winning the game,” Brea said. “Those things happened as you’re competing. My teammates — I felt it this whole year, honestly, but today they kept confiding in me. And I can see how much they trust me and how much confidence they put in me.

“They want me to keep going, especially when I get hot like that. It means everything to me, and it makes me a better player just to know they have my back.”

This team has a love for each other, and that’s what is fueling them even as they navigate injuries to their key players. Amari Williams played through a back injury on Sunday and delivered eight points, 10 rebounds and a team-high six assists. For a big man, Williams is tied with Butler for the team lead in assists.

Kentucky is the first team in the last 20 years, per CBS Sports Research, to make the Sweet 16 despite no returning points from the previous season.

“I just want to say it’s just the love we have for each other,” Williams said. “I feel like everybody just wanted to be on the court fighting for one another, and it showed tonight. We don’t worry about anything else, just the people we have in our circle. And that’s the way it’s been the whole season, and that’s what got us to this point.”

Butler set the tone Sunday afternoon. Just him being out on the court makes this Kentucky team better and gives them a chance to win every game they play, and that includes Friday night in the Sweet 16 against No. 2 seed Tennessee.

“Courage is real, but I keep coming back to love, man,” Pope said. “[Butler] loves his guys, and the guys love him. Who knows where we’re going to go from here. But this group, what a blessing to be around this group. I hope they feel it. I hope they feel it from these guys. They deeply care about each other, and Lamont is the ring leader. His courage comes from a ton of skill and a ton of work and a ton of love.”

Kentucky has already beaten Tennessee twice this season. Butler didn’t play in the first meeting in Knoxville on January 28th, a game the Wildcats won 78-73. He played in the game in Lexington on February 11th, but left with 8:40 remaining after re-aggravating his injured left shoulder. Kentukcy still managed to clamp down on defense and close out an impressive 75-64 win.

Friday night will be the first time Kentucky and Tennesee will play in the NCAA Tournament. If the first two games between the two teams are any indication, Friday night should be another barn-burner between border rivals.