Kentucky wins 1st NCAA Tournament game since 2019 with 61-53 win over Providence

Just refuse to lose…

During first-round action of the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Friday night, the Kentucky Wildcats broke its postseason losing streak with a 61-53 victory over the Providence Friars. Kentucky was powered by eight points and 25 rebounds — the most by a UK player in an NCAA Tournament game since 2000 — from Oscar Tshiebwe while Antonio Reeves led the way in scoring with a game-high 22 points on five made three-pointers. Jacob Toppin, who was especially spectacular in the first half, finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

This was Kentucky’s first NCAA Tournament win since the 2019 postseason. The ‘Cats will move on to play the winner of No. 3 Kansas State and No. 14 Montana State on Sunday in the Round of 32.

See y'all on Sunday! pic.twitter.com/X00Ft5sEiu

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 18, 2023

To open up the game, Toppin drew the starting assignment on Bryce Hopkins, who transferred from Kentucky to Providence during the last offseason and became an All-Big East First Team member this season. The first couple of battles went to Hopkins, who bullied Toppin on the block for two easy buckets in the opening minutes. But after that, it was Toppin who turned the tides, attacking the basket relentlessly while upping his defense on Hopkins more than a few notches.

South Carolina transfer Devin Carter got the momentum going in Providence’s favor from the jump with two uncontested, fastbreak dunks. Toppin was doing the scoring for Kentucky early on, adding six quick points on 3-4 shooting while Tshiebwe rebounded the ball as if there was no one around him. He had 10 boards just seven minutes into the game.

Kentucky was first to land a haymaker. Back-to-back three-pointers from Reeves, which sandwiched a monster block by Toppin on Hopkins at the rim, pushed the Wildcats to an 11-point lead behind a 10-0 run. Providence went over three minutes without a score during that span, but a pair of timely triples from Friars’ point guard Jared Bynum in the final 60 seconds made it just a seven-point game at the half with UK in front 38-31.

JT block ➡️ Reeves three 🔥🔥

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— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 17, 2023

Hopkins, who was dealing with two first-half fouls, appeared to injure his finger when his layup attempt was blocked by Toppin, although he would tape it up during the next break and remained in the game. Tshiebwe was up to six points and 13 rebounds — his career-high for a first half — at the half while Toppin and Reeves combined for 26 points. Kentucky had 12 more rebounds and 10 more second-chance points than Providence after 20 minutes of action.

Kentucky came out of the locker room struggling to score, going almost three minutes without a bucket while Providence cut the lead to just three, which forced a timeout from John Calipari. Freshman Cason Wallace responded though with four straight points of his own. Even with Tshiebwe picking up his third foul at the 14:17 mark, a big three-pointer from Reeves made it a nine-point lead for the ‘Cats.

From there, both sides decided to go ice cold. Kentucky went nearly six minutes without hitting a field goal while Providence struggled to score, as well. Reeves would end the dry spell for Kentucky before coming right back to make it an eight-point advantage for his squad with under six minutes to go. Providence trimmed the lead down to as little as four, 50-46, with 4:44 to go, but the ‘Cats buckled down to stave off the Friars’ comeback attempt down the stretch.

A pair of Toppin three throws made it a 10-point edge for Kentucky with just 54 ticks left on the clock. The ‘Cats would ice the game the rest of the way from the charity stripe to come away with the eight-point win and a spot in Sunday’s Round of 32. Kentucky went 8-0 from the line in the second half.

Kentucky shot 37 percent from the floor and 5-16 from beyond the arc, but dominated Providence inside, outrebounding the Friars 48-31 and winning the second-chance points battle 18-2. Providence was equally inefficient, connecting on just 36 percent of its overall shots. Hopkins finished with just seven points on 2-9 shooting for the Friars.