First Scouting Report: Kansas State star power now stands between UK and the Sweet 16
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament game:
The opponent
NCAA Tournament East Region No. 6 seed Kentucky (22-11) will face No. 3 seed Kansas State (24-9) on Sunday, March 19, at Greensboro Coliseum (capacity 22,000) in Greensboro, N.C.
The game will tip off at 2:40 p.m. ET and air on CBS.
Coach Jerome Tang’s Wildcats defeated No. 14 seed Montana State 77-65 Friday night in the round of 64.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Kansas State 9-1.
As UK head man, John Calipari is 1-1 vs. the “purple Wildcats.”
Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang has never coached against UK as a head man.
In NCAA Tournament games at Kentucky, Calipari is now 32-9. Tang is 1-0 in the NCAA tourney as K-State coach.
Most recent meeting
Xavier Sneed had 22 points and nine rebounds and Barry Brown added 13 points as No. 9 seed Kansas State upset No. 4 seed Kentucky 61-58 on March 22, 2018, in the NCAA Tournament South Region round of 16 before 15,616 fans at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta.
PJ Washington led Kentucky with 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 15 points and Kevin Knox 13 for UK.
The Wildcats were done in by errant shooting, as UK made only 16 of 42 field-goal tries, three of 12 three-point attempts and 23 of 37 free throws.
Power rankings
To end the regular season, the NCAA NET rankings had Kansas State No. 24, Kentucky No. 26.
In the Pomeroy ratings, Kansas State is No. 24, Kentucky is No. 27.
The Sagarin ratings have Kentucky No. 21, Kansas State No. 27.
Know your foe
1. Kansas State put not one, but two players on the AP All-America Team this season. Both star forward Keyontae Johnson and guard Markquis Nowell were voted AP Third Team All-Americans.
The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Johnson is a former Florida Gators star. Johnson’s Florida career was ended when he collapsed to the court on Dec. 12, 2020, during a game at Florida State. Johnson was subsequently in a coma for three days. He was eventually diagnosed with heart inflammation.
Florida never cleared Johnson to return to play, so he entered the transfer portal after last season.
This year at Kansas State, Johnson entered the NCAA Tournament averaging 17.7 points and 7.7 rebounds while making 51.9 percent of his field-goal tries and 41.9 percent of this three-point attempts.
A transfer from Little Rock, the diminutive Nowell, a 5-8, 160-pound super-senior, entered the postseason averaging 16.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 2.4 steals.
2. In January, Kansas put together a string of impressive victories. The Wildcats won at Texas, 116-103, on Jan. 3; won at Baylor 97-95 in overtime on Jan. 7; and beat intrastate rival Kansas 83-82 on Jan. 17 in Manhattan, Kan.
However, K-State wobbled down the stretch of the regular season, going 6-7 in the final 13 games.
3. Kansas State is 2-0 this season against Southeastern Conference foes. The Wildcats beat LSU 61-59 on a neutral court in the Cayman Islands Classic on Nov. 23.
In the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, K-State vanquished visiting Florida 64-50 on Jan. 28.
5 things you need to know from UK’s 61-53 win over Providence in the NCAA tourney
The streak is over. Kentucky beats Providence for first NCAA Tournament win in four years.
Box score from Kentucky basketball’s 61-53 win over Providence in the NCAA Tournament
