During Thursday’s first sixteen games of the NCAA Tournament, there was no shortage of upsets. High Point over Wisconsin, VCU over North Carolina, Texas A&M over St. Mary’s, and Texas over BYU. This is March Madness in all of its glory. Now we are in day two of the Madness and Kentucky is on deck.
Kentucky officially enters postseason play today when the ball is tipped at 12:15 PM ET. The Kentucky Wildcats (7) take on the Santa Clara Broncos (10) at the Enterprise Center which is located in St. Louis, Missouri. This postseason run will contribute to Mark Pope’s overall record of 2-1 in the NCAAT as the head coach of Kentucky after the program’s Sweet 16 finish just a year ago.
Kentucky now sits with a record of 21-13 after their loss to the Florida Gators in the Quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament just last week. The Broncos have a record of 26-8 after eventually losing in their conference Championship Game to the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
This will be the Broncos’ twelveth tournament appearance in program history, however, this is their first appearance since 1996 which was led by star guard Steve Nash. Nash led Santa Clara to a victory in the Round of 64 against Maryland before ultimately losing to Kansas in the Second Round. Thirty years later the Broncos are looking to play spoiler in their bid to the Big Dance and hopefully create another upset to the already large list piled against the Wildcats this year.
Yesterday, Kentucky guards Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen spoke with the media about their upcoming NCAA Tournament game. Senior guard, Otega Oweh, said, “Knowing that this is our last run, we’re just trying to make the best of it.”
Both mentioned that they are fully aware that this is their last shot at chasing a championship in college as their eligibility is up after this season. Aberdeen, a champion with Florida in 2025, know’s what it takes and wants another shot as well.
You can listen to the rest of their statements in the video above which is on our YouTube channel.
Kentucky Head Coach Mark Pope also addressed the media yesterday to preview 10-seed Santa Clara.
A couple of keys for Kentucky to move on to the Round of 32 on Sunday.
- Offensive Rebounding
- Perimeter Defense
If you have followed along the entire season with us, these two keys to success for the Wildcats have been brought up nearly every single week. Santa Clara isn’t going to dominate Kentucky on the boards, however, if Kentucky comes out stagnant and doesn’t hustle after every loose ball, then Santa Clara will do what they do really well — rebound the ball. They rank 27th in the country in offensive rebounds at over 13 offensive boards per game. As you know, offensive rebounding creates additional shot attempts and that’s an advantage you’d like to have on your side and not one you want to give the other team.
Not to discount: Defending the outside shot. The Broncos like to shoot the three ball and they like to do so at a high rate. They take on average nearly 30 three-point shots per game and hit roughly a third of them. To be honest, that is how Santa Clara will stay in this game. If Kentucky let’s them get going early then it could be a long day for the Wildcats. And for Big Blue Nation, we are no stranger to random players shooting unconscious from beyond the three point line during March *cough cough* (Doug Edert and Jack Gohlke). So how about we go into this one knowing what we don’t want to happen and put relentless effort into trying to prevent it. Can we?
It’s win or go home time now. A bad game now will send you packing with no other game after. It’s that time of the year and that’s what the Madness is all about. This has been an up and down season for the Wildcats but we will really see if the gauntlet of the Southeastern Conference has prepared them for this moment after their battle with a non-SEC opponent. If it goes how many people believe, the toughness of the SEC will rise above the outsiders.
Please don’t come at me for this but unfortunately I do not have a good feeling about this game. I think Kentucky’s season ends here, unfortunately, with no certainty on what next season will look like either. I have the Broncos winning in a close one with a final score of 79-76.
What are your thoughts and predictions? Leave them in the comments below.
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