Milwaukee
Five things you need to know from No. 3 seed Kentucky’s 76-57 win over No. 14 seed Troy in the men’s basketball NCAA Tournament round of 64:
1. At long last, the Wildcats tame a low seed. It was not always pretty, but after losing to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in 2022 and No. 14 seed Oakland last season, UK took care of business against the No. 14 seed Trojans.
Other than advancing to the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in the 2020s, the best thing about it from a narrative standpoint is that Kentucky no longer employs a head coach who has never won a game in the Big Dance.
Mark Pope is now 1-2 in NCAA Tournament games.
UK’s recent struggles in the NCAA Tournament are in stark contrast to the Wildcats’ regal March Madness past, of course..
In its record 62nd men’s NCAA Tournament appearance, Kentucky is now 131-55 all-time.
Only North Carolina (132) has won more games in the Big Dance than UK.
2. Another Oweh gem. For most of the season, we were tracking Otega Oweh’s double-figure scoring streak.
That ended, but the 6-foot-4, 215-pound junior has continued to put together a stellar season.
In his first NCAA Tournament game ever, Oweh went for 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
The Newark, New Jersey, product has now scored 20 points or more in seven of Kentucky’s past 10 games.
3. A UK freshman guard comes up big. One of the dominant stories of Kentucky’s 80-76 loss to Oakland in last year’s NCAA Tournament was the struggles of the Wildcats’ ballyhooed class of freshman guards.
Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard and D.J. Wagner combined to shoot 3-for-19 from the floor, 3-for-13 on 3-point tries in the loss to Oakland.
On Friday night, a far less-heralded UK freshman guard gave the Wildcats a significant second-half lift.
Collin Chandler helped Kentucky break the game open by scoring nine second-half points. The 6-foot-5, 202-pound freshman hit his first two 3-point tries and also cashed in three free throws after being fouled on a trey attempt.
Chandler finished with nine points.
Kentucky’s Amari Williams (22) shoots between Troy’s Jackson Fields (15) and Myles Rigsby (4) in Milwaukee on Friday night. Williams finished with five points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Ryan C. Hermens [email protected]
4. Kentucky coaches in their first NCAA Tournament game. With Kentucky’s victory over Troy in Mark Pope’s first NCAA Tournament contest as Wildcats head coach, it remains true that every UK head man to coach in the NCAA Tournament except for one has been victorious in their initial contest.
How Kentucky coaches have fared in their first NCAA Tournament games:
▪ 1941-42, Adolph Rupp: Beat Illinois 46-44.
▪ 1972-73, Joe B. Hall: Beat Austin Peay 106-100 (OT).
▪ 1985-86, Eddie Sutton: Beat Davidson 75-55.
▪ 1991-92, Rick Pitino: Beat Old Dominion 88-69.
▪ 1997-98, Tubby Smith: Beat South Carolina State 86-67.
▪ 2007-08, Billy Gillispie: Lost to Marquette 74-66.
▪ 2009-10, John Calipari: Beat East Tennessee State 100-71.
▪ 2024-25, Mark Pope: Beat Troy 76-57.
5. How UK’s NCAA champions have fared in their first tournament games. If you’d like to dream a little bit, there is this:
The average margin of victory in their first NCAA Tournament game for Kentucky’s eight national championship teams was 18.5 points.
The current Cats’ margin of victory over Troy beat that at 19.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 9:27 PM.
