LaMarch Butler leads Kentucky to halftime lead vs. Illinois
Mark Pope called his shot — and ‘LaMarch’ Butler is delivering.
The Kentucky coach said, “I actually think he’s going to be amazing” when asked about his starting point guard ahead of the Wildcats’ matchup against Illinois. The result? 10 first-half points for Butler to lead the team, shooting 3-3 from the field while adding three assists, one rebound and one steal in 17 minutes.
Koby Brea has been terrific, too, adding nine points on 4-8 shooting with four rebounds, followed by Trent Noah and Amari Williams with four apiece and Collin Chandler and Ansley Almonor with three each. As a team, Kentucky is shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three — but just 50.0 percent at the line on 4-8 overall.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Troy Taylor
Stanford, Andrew Luck fire head coach
- 2
Paul Finebaum
Calipari success a disaster for Kentucky
- 3
Mick Cronin
Fires back at reporter
- 4New
Auburn joins trend
Tigers spring game changed
- 5
John Calipari
Not concerned about Kentucky comparison
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
For the Fighting Illini, it’s Kylan Boswell leading the way with 10 points, followed by Tomislav Ivisic with eight and Will Riley and Kasparas Jakucionis with five. They’re shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from deep.
Other numbers to keep an eye on: Illinois up 21-15 on the glass, but down 8-4 on turnovers, leading to 14 points the other direction for Kentucky.
Check out the complete box score:
20 minutes to the Sweet 16, folks. Can the Cats do it?
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard