Kentucky Sweet 16: Thursday Afternoon Standouts

The Kentucky Sweet 16 opening round played the bottom half of the bracket on Thursday with four games at Rupp Arena. In this article we'll break down the standout performers from Thursday afternoon's action!    There will be a lot of bracket busters this weekend but Wilder was a zone buster by knocking down numerous 3-pointers vs the Hazard zone. With a quick release and teammates that found him when he was open, Wilder was knocking down open shots at an efficient clip on a team filled with slashers. After Hazard cut the Butler lead to just three in the fourth quarter, Butler answered with a 9-0 run with two 3-pointers by [player_tooltip player_id='2875980' first='Brayden' last='Wilkins'] and a third by Wilder to put the game away.     An excellent performance by Caudill who was getting some tough self-created buckets off the dribble. To open the game Caudill scored off a DHO and Caudill also knocked down some tough mid-range buckets off the dribble. With his ball handling ability, positional size and scoring talent, Caudill was the perfect player to try and lead a 14th region team to a win. Great effort by Hazard to get the game within a bucket in the fourth quarter.     The player I was most excited about to watch this weekend, I didn't get the chance to see Langhi the one time I saw Marshall County in the regular season. He certainly didn't disappoint as he scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to Will Marshall County to a win. Langhi looks slimmer and quicker end to end than I remembered from the summer. Langhi did an excellent job getting to his spots off the dribble in the mid-range area or all the way at the rim, only taking three 3-pointers all game. Langhi missed a couple layups with his left hand early in the game but had a huge and-1 finish with his left hand in the fourth quarter. Helping close the game at the charity stripe, Langhi was 11 for 13 on free throws. Out of any performer in the opening round, Langhi might've been the most impressive.     The final career game for the 16th region legend, Spurlock left it all on the court on Thursday. Making tough 3-pointers to tie the game with five minutes and two minutes left in the contest, Spurlock knocked down some huge shots throughout the game. A physical player, Spurlock drew seven fouls throughout the game, getting defended very physically. Excellent high school career for Spurlock who had his future college coach in attendance today as it's now onto the next chapter in his basketball career.     The first time I ever watched Rimmer was a game he played against Boyd County, and his addition to their team helped push them over the top in the 16th region. On Thursday, Rimmer provided excellent energy, rebounding and defensive impact. Rimmer led the game with four offensive rebounds, tied a game-high with two steals and played tough defense.

The Kentucky Sweet 16 opening round played the bottom half of the bracket on Thursday with four games at Rupp Arena. In this article we'll break down the standout performers from Thursday afternoon's action!