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The stage has been set. Kentucky will be taking its pursuit of perfection to the Midwest bracket as the No. 1 seed. The Wildcats earned an automatic bid after not only finishing first in the SEC for the regular season, but also winning the conference tournament. Last year, as the No. 8 seed, Kentucky broke Wichita State’s perfect season in the third round and advanced to the championship game where they fell to UConn, 60-54.
The Wildcats will be going up against Hampton, which beat Manhattan in Tuesday night’s First Four game to earn a bid to the Round of 64.
Hampton University just might be the biggest underdog of this year’s field of 68. In a battle of the No. 5 seed versus the No. 6 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Pirates proved the number of your seed is just that, a number.
Hampton bypassed No. 3 Maryland-Eastern Shore, 76-71, No. 2 Norfolk State, 75-64, and No. 5 Delaware State, 82-61, to earn their first automatic bid since 2011.
The Pirates headed into March Madness posting a 16-17 overall and 8-8 MEAC record – making them just the ninth team with a losing record to advance to the NCAA Tournament since 2000.
Here’s what you need to know about the game:
The Basics
Who:
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 16 Hampton
What:
NCAA Tournament Second Round
When:
Thursday, March 19
Where:
KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky
Bracket Region:
Midwest
Time:
9:40 p.m. Eastern
Channel:
CBS
Line:
The opening line isn’t out yet. We’ll post it here as soon as there is one.
Stats You Need to Know
Scouting Kentucky
Record: 34-0 overall, 18-0 SEC
Coach: John Calipari, 6th season
Offensive Points Per Game: 74.6
Defensive Points Allowed Per Game: 53.4
Scoring Leaders: Aaron Harrison, 11.2 ppg, Devin Booker, 10.9 ppg
Rebounding Leader: Karl-Anthony Towns, 6.6 rpg
Assists Leader: Andrew Harrison, 3.8 apg
Scouting Hampton
Record: 17-17 overall, 8-8 MEAC
Coach: Edward Joyner Jr., 6th season
Offensive Points Per Game: 67.2
Defensive Points Allowed Per Game: 68.0
Scoring Leader: Dwight Meikle, 13.0
Rebounding Leader: Dwight Meikle, 7.0
Assists Leader: Deron Powers, 3.7
