PJ Washington returns to lead Kentucky past Houston and into Elite Eight

No one was sure if PJ Washington would even play for Kentucky, but he came off the bench and helped lead the Wildcats to the Elite Eight.

It wasn’t quite like Willis Reed, but the return of PJ Washington was everything Kentucky needed to beat Houston and get to the Elite Eight.

Ever since Selection Sunday, the sophomore forward had been in either a walking boot or a hard cast and had yet to see court action while his team rolled through the NCAA Tournament. He returned to practice on Thursday and wasn’t sure if he’d play, but he did, and he made the difference in the four-point win.

John Calipari, who reached his seventh Final Four in 10 seasons at Kentucky, brought Washington off the bench and Kelvin Sampson’s team had no remedy.

When he entered the game against Houston, he was just trying to get his game legs back underneath him, but what we saw on the court was nothing short of spectacular.

Washington looked healthy and was the driving force in delivering Calipari his seventh Elite 8 appearance in the last 10 seasons. Washington’s spark off the bench was just what Kentucky needed late in the game when it looked like the powerful Cougars would go on to knock the Wildcats out of the Tournament.

With time running down, Washington hit a huge hook shot, and Kentucky’s defense got a timely stop to firmly end Houston’s season. Remember, nobody was expecting Washington to contribute much in this game, but now, with Washington looking like he has returned to form, Kentucky is once again a devastating team to be reckoned with going forward.

We’re pretty sure that Washington’s spark was a shock to Houston, who didn’t really gameplan around stopping Washington and paid a soul-crushing price for it.

You can best believe that the Auburn Tigers will gameplan to stop Washington when they meet in the Elite 8 on March 31, and they better, because Washington is the sort of player who can carry his team all the way to the top of the college basketball mountaintop.