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 Despite it being an up and down path to get there, the Kentucky Wildcats locked up a respectable 2 seed in the East Region. Now, the Cats will take on Saint Peter’s from Jersey City (NJ) at 7:10 pm ET Thursday night inside Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Peacocks (awesome mascot) out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference enter the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 19-11. They finished second in the conference during the regular season behind Rick Pitino’s Iona Gaels. That included eight-point and nine-point losses to Iona. Saint Peter’s got it done when it mattered most, beating Monmouth 60-54 on Saturday in the MAAC Championship to punch their ticket into the Big Dance. It wasn’t a surprise to see Kentucky placed in a prime-time CBS slot with Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarlkel on the call. Even when it’s a 15 or 16 seed in the opening weekend, Kentucky typically gets one of the primetime slots. You’d anticipate a big showing of Wildcat fans making the short trip up north to Indy for the first two rounds. However, with Murray State and Tennessee also playing in there, you could make an argument that the Cats won’t have quite the dominating crowd that they're used to. Obviously, Saint Peter’s should be a matchup where Kentucky can use its size and strength to its advantage, which includes a heavy dose of National Player of the Year frontrunner Oscar Tshiebwe. This will be Saint Peter’s fourth overall NCAA Tournament appearance, and the first time since 2011. The Peacocks are coached by Shaheen Holloway — a former Seton Hall standout from the late 90s. He’s positioned his team for their fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament. Thursday’s matchup will be much more about Kentucky getting themselves back on track as opposed to combating anything particular that Saint Peter’s will throw at them. After a demoralizing loss to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals coupled with not-so-great showings vs. Ole Miss and Florida, it seems as if the Cats may be trending downward at the worst time imaginable. Getting guys like Kellan Grady and TyTy Washington playing at a high level consistently will be a requirement if Kentucky is to make it to Philadelphia and win the East Region. How about a shootaround this week? You’ve probably heard that John Calipari attempted to place the blame at his own feet by admitting he didn’t have his normal shootaround before the abysmal performance against the Vols. “The last game, I’m putting it on myself, No shoot-around was the dumbest thing. I can’t believe I did it and I didn’t go with my gut, and we didn’t do it. But in that game when I watched it, a lot of guys were doing stuff they hadn’t done in a while.” Calipari said. As we all know, the Cats would go on to shoot 2/20 from deep and seemingly couldn’t throw it in the ocean. Needless to say, I’d expect Coach Cal to implement the old routine again in Indy. Making shots may not be as easy as you might think against a MAAC team like Saint Peter’s. The Peacocks have a top-35 defense as rated by KenPom and hold opponents under 45% shooting from inside three-point range. Only two players on the roster average more than 10 points a game. Junior guard Daryl Banks III gets 11 per contest, and 6-foot-7 senior forward KC Ndefo adds 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds. After what happened on Saturday, it’s safe to say that Kentucky can take nothing for granted. But if they bring their A game, they should thrive against the Peacocks, then get the winner of Murray State vs. San Francisco. Believe it or not — Kentucky and Murray state have never played — ever. So that’ll be something to keep your eye on heading into this weekend. Bottom line: Kentucky should be able to feed Oscar Tshiebwe early and often while overwhelming Saint Peter’s with their size. Follow A Sea of Blue for updates and all Kentucky tournament coverage. If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
UPDATE 2 The Kentucky Wildcats’ next game is vs. the Tennessee Volunteers in the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament. Game time is set for approximately 3:00 pm ET on ESPN. The two border rivals split the regular-season series with each team winning at home. Kentucky is in position to earn a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a three-game sweep in Tampa, but Tennessee is a very formidable opponent, and possibly the toughest left in the league tourney. UPDATE The Kentucky Wildcats will open SEC Tournament play against an unexpected opponent. The Vanderbilt Commodores will be the late Friday night foe following their Thursday upset win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Tip time should be around 8:00 pm ET on the SEC Network. The Wildcats swept the regular-season series with Vanderbilt, though the last matchup saw Kentucky struggle at home to put away the Dores before winning 77-70. After the Baylor Bears fell earlier today to Oklahoma, Kentucky has a very real chance of snatching a 1 seed with an SEC Championship weekend run. The postseason is here for the Kentucky Wildcats, who open SEC Tournament play Friday in the quarterfinal round. Game time for Kentucky’s opening game is set for approximately 8:00 pm ET. After watching the women’s basketball team win four games in four days to take home their SEC title in Nashville, the men will look to do the same this week in Tampa. Thankfully, the path won’t be nearly as daunting for the men, who only need to win three games after earning the No. 3 seed and automatically advancing to the quarterfinal round. Likely awaiting the Wildcats in the late Friday night matchup are the No. 6 seed Alabama Crimson Tide, who will play Thursday vs. the Wednesday winner of Vanderbilt vs. Georgia. The Dores have been competitive enough to think they can give the Tide a good run, but it’s hard to see Bama not being Kentucky’s opponent for an astounding 20th time in the SEC Tournament. Plus, a win over Alabama would be a much-needed Quad I win for Kentucky, who is oh so close to the 1-seed line in the Big Dance. Kentucky is 17-2 all-time against Alabama in the SEC Tournament and 6-1 against the Tide in quarterfinal matchups. They last met in the quarterfinals in 2019 with Kentucky winning 73-55. Kentucky managed to beat Alabama twice this season, though both matchups were competitive enough to think the Tide may very well win Friday if the Wildcats don’t come ready to play. If the Wildcats do win, they’ll play in Saturday’s semifinal round, likely against the No. 2 seed Tennessee Volunteers, who will face the winner of Thursday’s Mississippi State vs. South Carolina. Kentucky and Tennessee split the regular-season series at 1-1 with each team winning at home. If Kentucky makes it to Sunday’s SEC Championship, the top-seeded Auburn Tigers, but don’t sleep on the No. 4 seed Arkansas Razorbacks or No. 5 seed LSU Tigers being there. Kentucky went 1-3 vs. those teams during the regular season, though all three losses came on the road. It’s safe to think the crowd in Tampa will be largely Wildcat fans throughout the weekend if they make it to Sunday. As for current bracketology projections, the Wildcats consistently being projected as the first or second 2 seed in the field of 68 with Auburn ahead of them. It’s hard to see Kentucky jumping up to the 1-seed line without winning the SEC Championship. Kentucky enters the week with the best odds to win the SEC Tournament at +190, followed by Auburn (+260) and Tennessee (+330) If John Calipari’s team is able to make it to Sunday’s championship game, here is how to watch and stream Kentucky basketball in the 2022 SEC Tournament, along with projections for who Kentucky would play if the top seeds advance in each round. Game 1
— Game 2 (if applicable)Game 3 (if applicable)Odds to win 2022 SEC Tournament via DraftKings |
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