MILWAUKEE — Koby Brea’s transfer portal commitment from Dayton to Kentucky last May represented the fulfillment of a childhood dream for a player who grew up with an appreciation and knowledge of Wildcats basketball. As for his knowledge of the Kentucky team he was about to join? Nonexistent.

“They were complete strangers to me,” Brea said. “I didn’t know any of them. Not one.”

Retooling a roster in the transfer portal age has become expected. But the overhaul first-year coach Mark Pope undertook at Kentucky was drastic. Brea was one of nine transfers joined by three scholarship freshmen on a team whose lone returners from the John Calipari era were a pair of walk-ons who combined to play six minutes.

Yet this Kentucky team quickly learned about each other, melded its talent and has found its groove in the NCAA Tournament. No. 3 seed Kentucky defeated No. 6 seed Illinois 84-75 on Sunday night at Fiserv Forum to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years. Pope, who had never won an NCAA Tournament game in nine seasons at Utah Valley and BYU, has now won two in 48 hours. Kentucky (24-11) advances to play No. 2 seed Tennessee (29-7) on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The only lead Illinois held during the game lasted for 26 seconds on guard Kylan Boswell’s dunk that gave the Illini a 5-4 edge. Kentucky guard Otega Oweh then scored on a layup and the Wildcats maintained an advantage the rest of the way, taking a 37-32 lead into halftime.

Kentucky then blew the game open during the first three minutes of the second half with a 10-0 run, during which time Illinois coach Brad Underwood was forced to call timeout. Lamont Butler buried a turnaround jumper, Oweh converted three layups and center Amari Williams flushed a dunk to push the cushion to 15 points.

All of it was made possible during the offseason because of the combination of the Kentucky brand, which sold itself, and Pope, whose vision and approach as a former Kentucky player aligned with so many of the transfers he sought. He scoured the country for the best players that fit his system and found them with players from all levels of Division I: Drexel (Williams), Fairleigh Dickson (Ansley Almonor), San Diego State (Butler), Wake Forest (Andrew Carr), Oklahoma (Oweh), Dayton (Brea), BYU (Jaxson Robinson), Oklahoma State (Brandon Garrison) and West Virginia (Kerr Kriisa).

“It’s a terrifying process, especially as a first-year coach,” Pope said. “It’s an incredible opportunity also. The terrifying part is that you have zero players on your roster, and you’re expected to go win huge. The exciting part is that you get to start from scratch and kind of really hand select every single piece to try and fit together. You’re not forcing any square pegs into round holes.”

Brea said the bonding process, which was even more important for a group that knew so little about each other, was surprisingly smooth. He began talking to Butler as soon as Brea committed. He lived with Williams at the Wildcat Coal Lodge over the summer. Players spent a weekend at a lake house and rented jet skis. They helped build houses for flood victims in eastern Kentucky. They went bowling, competed in ping-pong and played NBA2K25 and Madden video games on PlayStation 5. They ate plenty of dinners at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse.

Williams recalled being the last transfer to arrive on June 15. He said players were awake together deep into the night watching the Tank vs. Frank lightweight world title boxing match between Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Frank Martin. Brea was among many players who said they genuinely believed all those off-the-court moments contributed to a tighter unit on the floor.

“I think it was super easy because none of us is really supposed to be here,” said Kriisa, who has been sidelined since December with a foot injury. “Everybody had their own journey. Guys went through mid-majors, guys went through squads that haven’t been to tournaments. So everybody kind of had their own story and I think if the old coach was here, none of us would really be here right now. So I think we don’t take Kentucky for granted. We kind of embrace it.”

There have been many standouts this season for a Kentucky team that featured six players averaging double figures in scoring, all of them transfers. Nobody was better Sunday than Brea. He didn’t miss a shot during the first half and took over the game with a scoring barrage midway through the second half, burying a pair of 3-pointers and two more jumpers.

Brea was a two-time Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year award winner and led the nation in 3-point shooting last season at 49.8 percent. He finished with 23 points against Illinois to lead all scorers. Oweh added 15 points and Butler had 14 points.

Illinois (22-13) made the game interesting late by cutting its deficit to six points before Carr scored on a layup and drew the foul. The Illini never threatened the rest of the way. Kentucky players finally began celebrating in the final seconds. Brea smiled wide and popped the Kentucky on his jersey. Garrison high-fived Pope. Chants of “Go Big Blue” emanated from the fans sitting behind the team bench. After the buzzer sounded, Pope ran over to hug his wife, Lee Anne, and kissed his daughters near the bench before running off to a TV interview.

“Who gets this opportunity?” Almonor said. “It’s the University of Kentucky. Not many people in this world ever get to put on this jersey and actually get to play minutes and be impactful for a team like this. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime.”