ST. LOUIS - The eighth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats set up a Sunday showdown with No. 1 seed Wichita State after a comfortable 56-49 victory over Kansas State in the final of four games Friday at the Scottrade Center.
Kentucky (25-10) took the lead near the midpoint of the first half and never trailed thereafter. Kansas State, the ninth seed, made a brief second-half run, cutting Kentucky's lead to 2 points, but Kentucky's overpowering front court led a surge that kept the game out of the reach of a tiring Kansas State (20-13).
After an uneven and sloppy first half, Kentucky led by 6 points largely behind the guard tandem of Andrew and Aaron Harrison, who combined for 15 first-half points mostly from the outside. Meanwhile, Kentucky's sinewy forward Julius Randle worked inside the paint to keep Kansas State off-balance defensively.
But Kansas State opened the second half with a long 3-pointer from guard Shane Southwell. Several minutes later, another Southwell 3-point basket trimmed Kentucky's lead to 35-33 with 12 minutes 31 seconds left in the second half.
Randle sparked Kentucky with 9 points in a six-minute span. A second-half technical on Southwell did not help Kansas State. Kentucky sank one of the two technical, and the ensuing possession ended with a Randle layup to give Kentucky a 42-33 lead.
Kansas State tried various pressuring tactics in the final minutes, but Kentucky's quick guards allowed the Wildcats to extend their lead to double digits. In the final minute, Kansas State cut the Kentucky lead to 6, but Kentucky made its free throws to survive.
Randle led Kentucky with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Marcus Foster led Kansas State with 15 points.
The game had an uncommon start as Kentucky led, 1-0, before the tip-off because a technical foul was called on Kansas State's Brian Rohleder for dunking during pregame warmups.
Posted by Unknown on Friday, March 21, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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