After surviving a scrappy Kansas State team, Kentucky will face undefeated #1 seed Wichita State (35-0) in the round of 32.
LET ME GO ON RECORD HERE. I'M NOT LIKE SOME WHO HAVE SAID THAT WICHITA'S 35-0 RECORD ISN'T THAT IMPRESSIVE BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T REALLY PLAYED ANYONE. I DON'T CARE WHO YOU PLAY, IF YOU GO 35-0 YOU'RE GOOD.... REAL GOOD
This will mark the first ever meeting between the Cats and Shockers, and it will be full of irony to say the least.
To start the season, there was talk of Kentucky going 40-0 instead, Wichita State is the one who is undefeated while the Wildcats has lost a total of 10 games. Kentucky starts five freshman while the Shockers play A LOT of juniors and seniors, it's literally a bad news paper reporters dream game... ESPECIALLY if Wichita State wins the game. You can see the headlines now, "Wichita State wins the right way" or "Young Cats SHOCKED By Veterans". So prepare yourself for the Pat Forde's of the world as they are just waiting for their opportunity to pounce on anything negative about Kentucky and especially John Calipari and his way of doing things. Of course winning the game won't completely silence all the critics, but it sure would muffle them a little.
This will be a very interesting game as the Shockers are a little like K-State in the fact that they aren't a very big team with their tallest player standing 6'9". But, this team is a little more efficient in the scoring and rebounding department, two things that eventually led to K-State loosing last night. Kentucky was able to dominate the boards 40-28, something they will have to continue to do tomorrow evening.
In last nights game, Andrew Harrison had a nasty injury to his elbow that left Kentucky fans a little nervous as he headed to the bench for treatment. Harrison said earlier today that he just hyper extended his elbow and that he is in a little pain, but is taking it day by day. If I was a betting man, I'd say we will see Andrew on the court tomorrow, hopefully at full strength because anything less and things could get interesting. Kentucky can't afford to lose Andrew right now while he is playing his best basketball of the season and is finally leading this team they it should be led.
Here's some stats to get you prepared for Kentucky's game tomorrow afternoon...
(click to enlarge)
By looking at the stats, it's the same ole song and dance here. Kentucky will have to rebound the ball well, hit their free-throws, keep the Shockers off the free-throw line, limit turnovers especially unforced ones and as always GUARD THE THREE POINT LINE WITH A VENGEANCE.
Besides all that, the Cats also must hit some outside shots to keep the defense from packing the lane. They will also need Willie Cauley-Stein and Julius Randle to have good games both defensively and offensively. I think the key to Kentucky winning this game will be the outside shooting of one Mr. James Young. If he's hitting from outside, things tend to be a little easier for the post players to operate, especially against an undersized team like the Shockers.
Here's ya look at how these two teams stack up against one another...
Kentucky stands as good of a chance as anyone in this game. The question is will they answer the call and hand Wichita State their first loss of the season? We shall find out tomorrow at 2:45. Hopefully we will be here tomorrow around this time talking about the Cats' win...
GO CATS AND BELIEVE IN THE TWEAK!!!!!
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