NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats vs. No. 7 Wofford
The round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region pits the No. 2 seed Kentucky Wildcats (28-6) and No. 7 seed Wofford Terriers (30-4) against each other.
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This is truly the blue blood versus the up and comer. Kentucky is 127-51 all-time in NCAA Tournament history, and 29-7 in the NCAAs under John Calipari; Wofford is 1-4 all-time in the Big Dance. The Kentucky Wildcats rolled in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, even without All-American PJ Washington. They defeated the Abilene Christian Wildcats 79-44 Wofford took care of business on Thursday as well, rolling to a 84-68 victory over the Seton Hall Pirates. This was Wofford’s 21st consecutive victory, but their first ever in the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky is a -5 point favorite.
Wildcats Crazy Athletic
Kentucky’s path to victory in this one is quite simple: pound the paint and guard the three. They were very vulnerable to giving up loads of three-pointers earlier in the season, but the defense has really stepped up since SEC play began. Yes, there have been some random dudes that have gone off against them, but overall the perimeter defense has been strong. A major factor for the Kentucky Wildcats is their experience against really good teams and the Wofford Terriers and Kentucky had some common opponents, with both the Wildcats and Terriers playing against the North Carolina Tar Heels, Kansas Jayhawks, South Carolina Gamecocks, and Mississippi State Bulldogs. Kentucky is a collective 5-0 against that group, including two wins over Mississippi State. Wofford, however, went 1-3 against that slate with their only victory being a win over South Carolina back in November.
Terriers Rolling Well
Wofford won the Southern Conference this season with a perfect 18-0 record in conference. However, they were just 1-4 against teams from Power 5 conferences and 2-4 against teams in the tournament field. The 7 seed Terriers are powered by senior guard Fletcher Magee, who as of Thursday became the all-time NCAA leader in three-pointers made. He has made 509 shots from behind the arc in his career, and he has led Wofford in scoring for the last three years.
The Terriers’ only hope on Saturday is to get open looks and get hot. They certainly did that on Thursday, hitting 46.4% of their 28 attempts to blow by Seton Hall late. Fletcher Magee hit 7 of 12 from deep on his own. Wofford thrives off of the three point shot. They have four players that have hit more than 40 three pointers this season, they shoot 41.6% from deep as a team, and they have the all-time NCAA three-point king in Magee. If there was ever a team that would test your ability to guard the three, it would be the Wofford Terriers
Pick and Prediction
I really like Kentucky in this one. Seton Hall gave Wofford all they wanted for 35 minutes before running out of steam. At this point in the season, Kentucky is light years better than Seton Hall. Take Kentucky to win by 8-12.
