Friday’s first round matchup for the Wildcats definitely lived up to the name of March Madness. The game against the Santa Clara Broncos became an instant classic after a buzzer-beating shot from Otega Oweh to send the game into extra minutes.
Kentucky was never able to put the Broncos away and with seconds remaining in regulation it appeared as though Kentucky’s season was over after Graves’ made three — until Otega Oweh did Otega Oweh things.
His buzzer-beater shot to send it into overtime will be played in Rupp Arena for many years to come. Kentucky held off the Santa Clara Broncos and earned their place in the Round of 32 against the Iowa State Cyclones (2) on Sunday in St. Louis. They’ll face off with a spot to get in to the Sweet Sixteen on the line.
Iowa State had a very good season and is well deserving of their No. 2 seed in the tournament. They finished 27-7 on the season and 12-6 in the Big XII conference. The Cyclones cruised to victory in their first round matchup against Tennessee State on Friday night, winning with a final score of 108-74. The most impressive part of that thirty-four point victory was that the Cyclones did it without one of their star players, Joshua Jefferson. He suffered what appeared to be a lower ankle injury just a few minutes into the game on Friday and never returned.
The question is inevitable, what does Jefferson’s status look like when it comes to the game today? Well, Iowa State Head Coach TJ Otzelberger didn’t officially rule him out against the Wildcats but it doesn’t seem likely he will be able to suit up.
“It appears unlikely (that he will play) but you never want to rule anything out,” said Otzelberger.
You never wish an injury on anyone, especially during this time of the season. If Jefferson is unable to go today then Iowa State is losing out on 20% of their scoring, 21% of their rebounding, and 28% of their total assists. However, there are plenty of guys on Iowa State’s bench ready to step up in his absence just in case. Two of them that stepped up in the win against Tennessee State were Killyan Toure with 25 points (averages 8.5 on the season) and Nate Heise with 22 (only averaged 5.2 on the season). Iowa State has scorers all throughout their bench that can contribute at any moment.
With all that being said, Kentucky seems to be ready for the challenge. The players understand that it’s “win or go home” from here on out and they aren’t here to go home.
We spoke to Mark Pope and the players on Saturday to preview the Cyclones. Here’s what they had to say.
Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel so that you can follow along with us as Kentucky attempts to get back to another Sweet 16 under Mark Pope.
So, what will need to happen for Kentucky to upset Iowa State today?
First off, they need to shake off that near defeat at the hands of Santa Clara because this is March. You survive and advance. Any team you play from here on can knock you off and send you home. I know Oweh is putting this team on his shoulders for the bulk of it but he will not be able to do it all entirely by himself. The Wildcats will need some good contributions today from their other guards in Aberdeen and Chandler.
Kentucky will also have to match Iowa State’s physicality. Mo Dioubate and Malachi Moreno will need to have good games and not allow anything easy within the paint. The Cyclones like to double in the post so our bigs need to be ready to pass out to the open shot if it presents itself. Unfortunately, Moreno did not have a good outing in the first round game, finishing with 3 points and 3 fouls in just 20 minutes, but thankfully Brandon Garrison was able to step up in his place. He finished with 10 points on 5/6 shooting, including 7 rebounds and 6 blocks.
Besides Joshua Jefferson, a couple of other names you need to keep an eye on are Milan Momcilovic and Tamin Lipsey. Momcilovic is a stretch four that can absolutely make you pay if you leave him open from beyond the arc. That is his bread and butter as he shoots nearly 50% and averages around 17 points per game. Lipsey averages over 13 points per game and is able to help get his teammates open looks as he averages 5 assists per outing as well. They lead a high powered offense and Kentucky needs to disrupt it in every opportunity they can.
Tip-off is set for 2:45 PM ET today with CBS televising. A lot of sportsbooks have Kentucky as a +3.5 to +4.5 underdog which are much better odds than they were before the Jefferson injury. I got a lot of grief with my prediction on Friday for Kentucky losing to Santa Clara, but I still need to see more from this team to predict a victory. I think it will be a good game and more than likely a back-and-forth type of game, but I think Iowa State pulls this one away at the end with a final score of 83-77.
What are your thoughts and opinions on the score of the game? Leave them in the comments below.
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