Hey Catlanta, here come the rising and surprising Kentucky Wildcats

The long, winding and now surprising road that has been this 2017-18 basketball season has landed Kentucky in a familiar and favorite spot.

Hey Catlanta, the Cats are coming back.

And they don’t want to stop there.

Paced by the creative maneuvering of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (27 points) and the outrageous athleticism of Hamidou Diallo (22 points, eight rebounds), No. 5 seed Kentucky made short order of NCAA Tournament Cinderella and No. 13 seed Buffalo on Saturday in Taco Bell Arena, bursting the Bulls’ bubble 95-75.

The victory earned John Calipari’s young Cats (26-10) a spot in Thursday’s Sweet 16 regional semifinal game in Philips Arena in Atlanta, historically known as Catlanta for its broad Big Blue support during March.

“They’ve told us about it,” freshman forward Kevin Knox said. “They told us there would be like a 100,000 people there in blue, like it’s going to be a home game.”

Indeed, the Georgia capitol has traditionally been kind to the Cats — think back to 2012 when Anthony Davis and Company defeated Indiana and Baylor on the way to the national title. And yet there are a couple of surprises in this particular trip, both that the Cats have made it there and who they will find once they arrive.

A South Region road considered dark and dangerous for a shaky Kentucky squad abruptly and surprisingly opened up to blue skies on Thursday and Friday. First, No. 13 seed Buffalo emphatically took down No. 4 seed and Pac-12 champion Arizona 89-68. Then little-known UMBC made history, becoming the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed by dropping a 74-54 bombshell on overall top seed Virginia.

“Yeah,” said UK forward PJ Washington when asked if the team was paying attention to what was going on in the top half of its regional bracket. “We knew.”

Knowing the window of opportunity exists and climbing through it are two different matters, however. And UK new that if a cocky, confident Buffalo, led by brash coach Nate Oats, who called Caliapri a “whiner” for complaining about playing so many freshmen, could take down star-studded Arizona, surely the Bulls were capable of upsetting Kentucky, as well.

“If I was them,” said Calipari on Friday, “I’d be confident, too.”

Saturday wasn’t Thursday, however. If Arizona treats defense as a hobby, Kentucky continued stringing barbed wire. Buffalo made a sizzling 15 of 30 three-pointers in taking down Arizona. Against UK’s never-ending length, however, the Bulls were just seven of 31 from beyond the arc, including 2-for-14 in the second half.

Meanwhile, on offense, Shai was Shai. Gilgeous-Alexander controlled the tempo, found avenues to the rim and scored baskets just when Buffalo believed it might actually be climbing back into the game.

“He’s the best point guard we’ve seen all year,” said Oats, who said he apologized to Calipari before the game for the “whiner” remark. “We really didn’t have an answer for them.”

And Sweet 16 would probably not have been the answer to where your typical Kentucky basketball fan thought this team was headed a month ago when their beloved were 17-9 overall, 6-7 in the league and in the throes of a four-game losing streak.

Without so much as a “tweak,” the Cats have won nine of 10 since, sweeping first the SEC Tournament and then the Boise regional.

“There was something about this team that we always knew that we could go far in this tournament,” Knox said.

“We feel like we’re playing our best basketball right now,” Washington said.

Not that making it out of the first weekend is the end game. And Thursday’s matchup against either No. 9 seed Kansas State No. 16 seed UMBC is a guaranteed ticket to Saturday’s Elite Eight, one win from the Final Four in San Antonio.

“The team that beat Virginia, they’re a great team,” Diallo said. “If they could beat Virginia, they could beat us. We’ve just got to stay focused and stay motivated. We’re in March and that’s when crazy things happen.”

Crazy enough for this Kentucky team to end up in a Sweet 16 game in Catlanta.

Said a smiling PJ Washington, “I can’t wait.”

This story was originally published March 17, 2018 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Hey Catlanta, here come the rising and surprising Kentucky Wildcats."