Kentucky flexes its muscle to defeat West Virginia

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The overall No. 1 seeded Kentucky Wildcats silenced the pre-game talk with a 78-39 win over fifth-seeded West Virginia in Cleveland, OH to advance to the Elite Eight.

Trey Lyles led Kentucky's balanced scoring attack with 14 points. The Wildcats had five players in double figures as they cruised to victory in the second half. Aaron Harrison had 12 points at the break, but left the game in the second half after his injuring his finger. he returned to the game briefly with a little over 10 minutes to play.

Kentucky led 44-18 at halftime, limiting West Virginia to 5-of-26 shooting from the field and 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.

West Virginia (25-10) didn't reach double figures until the 7:36 mark of the first half. The Mountaineers appeared to reach 10 points a minute earlier, but the referees took a point off the board during the under eight minute timeout.

Mountaineers freshman Daxter Myles Jr. raised eyebrows before the game when he predicted a West virginia win, but was held scoreless in the game. Juwan Staten led the team with 14 points.

Kentucky (37-0) continues its quest for a perfect season Saturday against third-seeded Notre Dame.

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