In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 84-75 win over sixth-seeded Illinois on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional. Each staff member will share his three main takeaways from the game.

JEFF DRUMMOND:

1. I thought Kentucky was really ready to play tonight, dialed in across the board. That tends to be the case, as I have pointed out in the past, when the basketball world starts counting the Wildcats out. UK jumped on Illinois early, building a nice lead in the first half, and absolutely blitzed the Illini to start the second half. Signs of a really well-prepared, well-coached team. Great showing from Mark Pope & Co.

2. Lamont Butler remains the key to Kentucky's championship hopes. If he can give the Cats what he gave them tonight (14 points, 4/5 FG, 2/3 3PFG, 5 assists, 3 steals in 33 minutes of action), this team has a chance against anyone they play. Pick your metaphor: head of the snake, straw that stirs the drink, MVP. His second-half steal and assist to Brandon Garrison slammed the door on Illinois' momentum and put the game back in UK's control. It was a championship-level play.

3. Koby Brea was sensational. He scored a team-high 23 points, and only nine of them came from the arc. I don't think we would have seen that type of performance from him earlier this season, when his game was so heavily dependent on treys. His growth in being able to absorb contact and find more ways to get himself open and make mid-range shots have made him an even more challenging player to scout. Illinois had no answers for him on a 10-for-16 shooting night. And he played terrific defense, an aspect of his game that he's probably most proud of right now.

DAVID SISK:

1. We all know why Big Blue Nation was at the end of its rope with John Calipari. Post-season woes. The Sweet 16 is not the measuring stick for Kentucky, but if Mark Pope could get out of the first weekend in year one it would mean the program was heading in the right direction. Well, that’s the way it’s going. No matter where you’ve stood about the new coach, this win makes Mark Pope a made man and unifies the fan base.

2. Kentucky came out of the gates in both half to put Illinois behind the eight ball. They went up 13-5 in the first half, and opened on a 10-0 run in the second after Illinois cut the lead to five at the half. Mark Pope had a great game plan and then made great adjustments. The players did a tremendous job of executing both.

3. Kentucky entered the game with several directives. They wanted to turn Illinois over and they did. 14 turnovers led to 26 Wildcats points. They were plus-18 in that category. They also wanted to contest the three-point shot. Illinois went 9 of 32 for 28.1%. The cats did a lot of things right, but those were the game changers..

TRAVIS GRAF:

1. What a huge win for the fan base and for Pope. Kentucky hasn’t been to the second weekend since 2019 and with Arkansas and BYU winning yesterday it added extra fuel to the agenda fire. Kentucky dominated for spurts and led from wire to wire.

2. If Kentucky plays defense like they did today, they can beat anyone in the country. Some stretches of today’s game were the best basketball they’ve played all year on both ends of the court. Koby Brea’s shooting and Lamont Butler getting that confidence back are instrumental moving forward.

3. The last two days has been “how does Kentucky do this and stop that” against Illinois. Kentucky is a good basketball team and the topic needs to be what do other teams do against the Wildcats. Their offense is super hard to guard and their defense has made huge leaps.

JUSTIN ROWLAND:

1. Koby Brea shouldered a huge load tonight. The way he handled himself on that stage, as ball-dominant as he was at times, was impressive. He never showed anything but tremendous confidence. He was Kentucky's leading scorer, had Kentucky's best +/- number (+13) and had six rebounds.

2. Illinois turnovers early in the first half allowed Kentucky to set the tone, and Illinois turnovers early in the second half allowed Kentucky to extend the lead to such a degree that the Illini were never able to fight back. UK had 26 points off 14 Illinois turnovers, which means they capitalized at an insane rate.

3. That was one of Kentucky's best defensive efforts of the season. Lamont Butler hounded the ball and obviously makes a huge difference but the communication and play from everyone on that end was a big step up from where it has sometimes been. They've improved on that end this year, which is a testament to Mark Pope.