It was only fitting that the season's biggest sequence to date came down to the player an entire fan base did not know would play and another whose very name provided an apt description of the game's final bucket.

Kentucky's P.J. Washington, who did not play in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament due to a sprained foot, returned on Friday night to provide the Wildcats with a boost on both ends of the floor against Houston. His blocked shot of a Corey Davis Jr. drive to the basket with 34 seconds remaining led to Tyler Herro's go-ahead 3-pointer on the opposite end.

After another defensive stand by UK, Herro, a freshman wing, sank two free throws with 13 seconds remaining to clinch a 62-58 win over third-seeded Houston at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

“I love our will to win, how we played down the stretch,” said UK head coach John Calipari.

The second-seeded Cats will advance to the Midwest Regional final to face SEC rival Auburn on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. ET. The fifth-seeded Tigers earned their spot with an impressive 97-80 rout of top-seeded North Carolina.

Kentucky (30-6) has now reached the Elite Eight for the seventh time in nine tourney appearances under Calipari. The Cats will be seeking their first trip to the Final Four since 2015.

Herro led UK with 19 points on a 7-for-13 shooting night. Washington followed with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The sophomore All-American forward acknowledged that adrenaline carried him through some lingering pain.

“I took some pain pills before the game,” he said. “Kind of started hurting in the second half, but I have to tough through it. Through the end of the game, it was trying to cramp up. I'm definitely going back to get some treatment after this and try to get a good night's sleep.”

Grad transfer forward Reid Travis pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds as the Cats dominated the glass 36-23.

Kentucky led by as many as 13 points early in the second half but fell into a funk on the offensive end of the floor. The Cats had scored only 12 points in the second half at the final media timeout as Houston took a 51-49 lead.

Trailing 54-51, UK closed the game with an 11-4 run. Houston missed four of its last six attempts from the field. During the same stretch, UK made a pair of buckets and converted six of seven free throws.

The Cougars (33-4) got 20 points from junior guard Armoni Brooks, who made six of 12 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Davis added 14.