NEAR PERFECT
Hamilton’s Gilgeous-Alexander helps avoid upset
BOISE, IDAHO — Kentucky put an end to any upset talk on its watch Saturday, getting 27 points and a near-perfect shooting game from Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a 95-75 pullaway from 13th-seeded Buffalo.
Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton went 10 for 12 and made both of his three-point attempts to send fifth-seeded Kentucky (2610) to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.
Coming into the day, the basketball world was still reverberating from Maryland-Baltimore County’s 16 vs. 1 stunner over Virginia the night before. Villanova and Duke both rolled early; the evening slate started with Kentucky, and the Wildcats, with their all-freshman starting lineup, trailed only once: 2-0.
It wasn’t a runaway until the last seven minutes.
Buffalo (27-9), which got here with a 21-point blowout over Arizona, twice trimmed a doubledigit lead to five midway through the second half.
Gilgeous-Alexander answered
both times — once with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to eight, then again a few minutes later with a three-point play that started a 12-2 run and put the game away.
Hamidou Diallo also went off — going nine for 12 and scoring all but four of his 22 points in the second half while the Wildcats were turning this one into a laugher.
About that UMBC win — it
could impact Kentucky more than you think. With Virginia and Arizona gone, the Wildcats came into the day seeded behind only Cincinnati and Tennessee in the South.
Wes Clark had an electric day for the Bulls again, but it wasn’t enough.
He finished with 26 points but closed his career at 0-5 against the Wildcats. The first four losses came before he transferred away
from Missouri.
After seeing its record 1,047game streak of making a threepointer come to an end Thursday, Kentucky started all over. Quade Green hit one with 8:26 left in the first half to start anew. And coach John Calipari was proven correct. His team isn’t that bad behind the arc. The Wildcats went seven for 15