Freshman Knight scores 30 for Kentucky

TAMPA, Fla. -- It has not taken Brandon Knight long to build an impressive resume in the NCAA Tournament.

A game-winning shot in the closing seconds of his debut on Thursday. A career-high 30 points Saturday, helping Kentucky back into the round of 16.

Less than 48 hours after his only basket helped the fourth-seeded Wildcats survive their tournament opener against Princeton, Knight led an 11-0 run coming out of halftime and made six free throws in the final minute to close out a 71-63 victory over fifth-seeded West Virginia in an East Regional game.

Not bad for a freshman who's coping with tournament pressure while also carrying the hopes of one of college basketball's most storied programs.

"Definitely for me I felt a lot more anxiety coming into [Saturday's] game, not playing so well [Thursday]," said Knight, a 6-3 guard. "[But] my teammates continued to have faith in me, and they really helped me out, finding me and stuff like that. And they really stepped up their level of play up, which got me more shots . . . Guys play tough throughout the season, but I think they step it up a notch in the tournament."

So has Knight.

Kentucky coach John Calipari isn't surprised, comparing the young star's work ethic to that of Derrick Rose, who played for Calipari while leading Memphis to the Final Four as a freshman.

"This young man works like [Rose] does," Calipari said. "Any time you spend that kind of time, you expect good things to happen. If you're trying to get over, if you're cutting every corner, if you're trying to fool around in practice, the minute it goes wrong in the game, you expect it to continue.

"Everybody says, 'Why would you give him the ball [for the last shot against Princeton on Thursday] when he didn't make a shot [all game]?' Because I knew he expected to make the last one . . . And he's not afraid to miss the last shot. You can't be afraid to miss it, either."

Kentucky (27-8) advanced to the East Regional semifinals in Newark, N.J., against either No. 1 seed Ohio State or eighth-seeded George Mason.

West Virginia, which reached the Final Four a year ago, led 41-33 after closing the opening half on a 22-7 run. But Kentucky scored the first 11 points coming out of the break and wore down the Mountaineers (22-12).

Josh Harrellson delivered eight of his 15 points during the pivotal stretch of the second half that Kentucky used to gain control.

Each one of Knight's four assists produced easy baskets for teammates. "He was really good," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "I thought we did a much better job the second half, but there's a reason why everybody recruits those guys; they're pretty good."

For Calipari, it was just his second victory in 10 matchups with close friend Huggins. The two embraced after the final horn.

"I just wished him good luck," Huggins said. "I told him go win the thing."