The win for Kentucky (25-10) clinched a spot in the Sweet 16. It will be UK’s first appearance in the round since 2016.
The loss brought WVU’s season to a close. The Mountaineers finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 28-7 overall record.
“I want to give credit to West Virginia, not only the program, but the fans,” UK coach Kenny Brooks said. “They came out, and any time that you can capitalize on a situation like this and help grow the sport — I thought it was a tremendous atmosphere. Very respectful fans, very knowledgeable fans, just cheering for their team.”
Numerous momentum swings defined Monday’s tight tilt.
UK led by five points after the first quarter. Early in the second period, the visitors extended the advantage to 11 points (28-17). But the Mountaineers rallied, closing the quarter by scoring 19 of the next 27 points to level the game at 36-all at intermission. Kentucky was the far better squad out of the locker room, beginning the third period on a 9-0 to take a 45-36 lead. By the time the quarter ended, the Cats were up by a dozen, 62-50.
The hosts refused to go down without a fight, however.
They closed to within a point, 72-71, with 1:20 to play.
Tonie Morgan answered immediately. UK’s all-SEC point guard knocked down a jumper to push the lead back to three (74-71) with 55 seconds remaining. Kentucky made just enough plays the rest of the way to avoid what would have been a devastating fourth-quarter collapse.
“It’s March,” said Morgan, who had 15 points (9 for 10 at the free-throw line) and two blocks. “Teams (are) going to go on runs. You’ve just got to expect it at all times. You can never get too comfortable no matter how much you’re up. … Just be prepared for anything.”
“We had some injuries, so we knew we had to go on the road (in the first two rounds of March Madness),” Brooks said. “We adopted that mentality probably midway through the year. It was like, ‘OK, whether we host or not, we’re going to be emotionally ready.'”
Now, the Wildcats can pack their bags for the Lone Star State, where they’ll be part of the Fort Worth Regional at Dickies Arena. Their foe: Top-seeded Texas, which won each of its first two NCAA games by 42 points (87-45 against Missouri State in the opener, then 100-58 over Oregon in the second round).
Brooks and his staff will turn their attention to that soon enough.
For one night, at least, he wanted to revel in what his program had accomplished. Last season, Kentucky lost in overtime — by one point — to Kansas State in the Round of 32. A year later, UK flipped the script and wound up on the right side of a one-point decision.
“We’ve been a ranked basketball team every week that we’ve been at Kentucky,” Brooks said. “That’s a tribute to my staff, to the young people that we brought in, everybody believing in what we’re trying to do. To (achieve) this in two years, it’s pretty remarkable. So heck yeah, I’m going to sit back and smell the roses and really enjoy this, because we’ve gotten so much support.
“That’s one of the reasons why I came here. I wanted to come here to be on this stage.”
