In South Region, Cats could face foes that have put brutal NCAA tourney losses on Kentucky

A look at the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Region — which includes the No. 3 seed Kentucky Wildcats:

Meet UK’s first foe

Kentucky will open NCAA tourney play Thursday against Horizon League Tournament champion Oakland (23-11).

Veteran coach Greg Kampe — who has been in charge of the Golden Grizzlies’ men’s basketball program since 1984-85 when it was an NCAA Division II program — will be leading Oakland to its fourth Division I NCAA tourney appearance.

Oakland, a public research university in Rochester, Michigan, is 1-3 all-time in NCAA tourney games.

The Golden Grizzlies beat Alabama A&M in the 2005 Opening Round Game (a play-in contest) before losing as a No. 16 seed to No. 1 North Carolina 96-68 in the round of 64.

In 2010, Kampe’s Golden Grizzlies were a No. 14 seed and lost to No. 3 Pittsburgh 89-66.

The following season, No. 13 seed Oakland threw a major scare into No. 4 Texas before falling 85-81.

Oakland does not seem likely to be intimidated by playing a program the magnitude of Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.

This season, Oakland has faced four power-conference foes — and has played competitively in all four games.

At Ohio State of the Big Ten, Oakland fell 79-73. Against the Big Ten’s Illinois, Oakland lost 64-53. In a road game at Xavier of the Big East, Oakland pulled the upset, 78-76. The Golden Grizzlies lost to a third Big Ten foe when they fell 79-62 at Michigan State.

In the Horizon League Tournament, Oakland took advantage of a bracket that “opened up” due to rampant upsets. The Golden Grizzlies earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tourney by beating the No. 8 seed (Purdue Fort Wayne, 75-65), No. 7 seed (Cleveland State, 74-71) and No. 6 seed (Milwaukee, 83-76).

Oakland’s top player is Trey Townsend, a 6-foot-6, 228-pound senior forward. A product of Oxford, Michigan, Townsend is averaging 16.9 points and 7.8 rebounds.

The most-familiar name on the Oakland roster is super-senior guard Rocket Watts, who formerly played for both Michigan State and Mississippi State.

The 6-2, 182-pound Watts is averaging 7.8 points and making 41.1 percent of his shots, 25.4 percent of his 3-point shots and 83.1 percent of his free throws.

In Horizon League play, Oakland twice faced a Bluegrass State foe the Golden Grizzlies split with in Darrin Horn and Northern Kentucky, winning 70-65 in overtime at home and falling 99-89 in OT on the road.

The top seed

South Region No. 1 seed Houston enters the NCAA Tournament after absorbing a shocking 69-41 beat down at the hands of Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament finals.

Nevertheless, coach Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars have won 30 of 34 games in 2023-24 and, impressively, claimed the regular-season crown in the program’s first season competing in the basketball-rich Big 12.

Sampson, the former Washington State, Oklahoma and Indiana head man, has led Houston to 30 wins or more in three straight seasons and in four out of the past six. Houston advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four in 2021.

Of Houston’s four losses, two have been delivered by Iowa State. The Cougars’ other defeats came on the road at TCU and at Kansas.

As has come to define Houston during the Sampson coaching era, the Cougars are elite defensively.

Houston is holding foes to 57 points a game, 37.9 percent field-goal shooting and 30 percent 3-point shooting. The Cougars have forced a robust 542 turnovers and have made 340 steals.

The question with Houston in NCAA Tournament play tends to be whether the Cougars have enough offense to make deep runs.

This season, Houston is averaging 73 points but has made only 43.4 percent of its shots.

Houston’s top players are 6-1 senior guard L.J. Cryer (15.3 points a game), a transfer from Baylor, and 6-1 senior guard Jamal Shed (13.1 ppg).

A chance for UK revenge

Three teams that are in the South Region with Kentucky are responsible for pinning three of the most painful defeats in Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament history on UK.

▪ Duke is the South Region No. 4 seed.

In 1992, the Blue Devils broke the hearts of Kentucky’s Rick Pitino and “The Unforgettables” on Christian Laettner’s famous (infamous in these parts) buzzer beater in the 104-103 overtime classic in the NCAA tourney Elite Eight.

(Tubby Smith and the “Comeback Cats” delivered a rather memorable payback to Duke in the 1998 NCAA tourney round of eight, rallying from 17 down in the final 10 minutes to win 86-84 but, for some reason, that genuinely memorable game hasn’t resonated across the years in the same way as the “Laettner Game”).

For Kentucky and Duke to meet this year, it would again be in the round of eight.

▪ Marquette is the No. 2 seed.

In 2003, led by the remarkable Dwyane Wade’s triple-double, the Golden Eagles snapped a 26-game Kentucky winning streak with an 83-69 victory over Tubby Smith’s Wildcats in the round of eight.

Kentucky and Marquette have met in the NCAA tourney a whopping 10 times. Marquette has won six of those 10 Big Dance matchups with UK, including the last three in a row.

For the Wildcats and the Golden Eagles to meet this year, it would be in the round of 16.

▪ Wisconsin is the No. 5 seed.

With Kentucky two wins away from an undefeated national championship at the 2015 Final Four, the Badgers rallied from behind late to pin a 71-64 defeat on John Calipari’s previously unbeaten (38-0) Wildcats.

A UK chance to pay back the Badgers would come in the round of eight.

Familiar faces

Besides UK, there are two other SEC teams in the South Region and one other team from the commonwealth of Kentucky.

▪ No. 7 seed Florida will face the winner of the First Four contest between No. 10 seeds Boise State and Colorado in the round of 64. Coach Todd Golden’s Gators reached Sunday’s SEC Tournament finals but it did not go well.

Not only did Florida lose to Auburn 86-67. The Gators also Florida lost 7-foot-1 center Micah Handlogten to an open fracture to his leg.

Kentucky and Florida split two games during the regular season, each winning on the other’s home court.

A UK vs. UF rubber match would come in the NCAA tourney round of 16.

▪ No. 9 seed Texas A&M swept two games from Kentucky this season, including a 99-89 win over Kentucky on Friday night in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. The Aggies also beat the Wildcats 97-92 in overtime in January in College Station.

Texas A&M will open NCAA tourney play against No. 9 seed Nebraska of the Big Ten. If the Aggies win, they would probably face No. 1 seed Houston in the round of 32.

For Kentucky to get a third shot at A&M, it would come in the round of eight.

▪ No. 15 seed Western Kentucky is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013. First-year coach Steve Lutz and the Hilltoppers will face No. 2 seed Marquette in the round of 64.

The Wildcats and Hilltoppers have played twice before in the NCAA Tournament. WKU demolished Adolph Rupp’s Cats 107-83 in the 1971 round of 16.

In the 1986 round of 32, UK prevailed over WKU 71-64 behind 32 points and 11-of-11 shooting from Kenny Walker.

For UK and WKU to face off in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, it would be in the round of 16.

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