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Here's a closer look at how top overall seed Kentucky defeated West Virginia to advance to the Elite Eight: Kentucky took the lead with 18:33 left in the first half and never gave it up. With a 78-39 win, the Wildcats became the first team since 1940 to score twice as many points as their opponent in the NCAA tournament regional semifinals or later. The most recent instance was when Indiana defeated Springfield (Mass.) 48-24. Indiana went on to win the title.
• West Virginia's 39 points were the fewest scored in a Sweet 16 game since the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975. It's also a school record for fewest in an NCAA tournament game and the fewest scored by any team in this year’s tournament. • The 39-point victory is tied for the largest win in Sweet 16 history. There have been four 30-point wins in the Sweet 16, three of them by Kentucky. • This was the largest win by a John Calipari-led team in the tournament. • The Wildcats held the Mountaineers to a 24.1 field goal percentage, the lowest ever in a Sweet 16 game. It's the worst field goal percentage by the Mountaineers in a tournament game in the past 50 years. • In three games so far in this tournament, Kentucky has held opponents to a 28.4 field goal percentage. • The Wildcats outscored West Virginia by 22 points in the paint Thursday. The Mountaineers had more shots in the paint blocked (seven) than they made (six). West Virginia’s 12 paint points are tied for the fewest by a team in the 2015 NCAA tournament. • Kentucky outscored West Virginia 25-2 in transition Thursday, the largest differential of this year's tournament. Next, Kentucky gets Notre Dame in the Elite Eight. The teams have played two other times in tournament history. In 1970, Kentucky won by 10, and in 1958, the Wildcats won by 33 en route to the title. Notre Dame is 0-4 against 1-seeds in the NCAA tournament.
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