No.1 seed Kentucky will be looking to improve on their 34-0 record on Thursday night when they face Hampton in their second round game of the NCAA Tournament.
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville.
When: Thursday March 19, 21:40 (ET)
The Wildcats are considered the strong favourites to win the tournament, and so it will take something special from their opponents to cause a major upset in the first round.
Hampton come into this game having already upset the odds once with their win over Manhattan in the First Four, but this is just their fifth Tournament appearance and first since 2011.
Whether or not they can keep this competitive remains to be seen, but given that Kentucky are 43-10 in openers and have won 21 of their last 22 second-round games, the writing appears to be on the wall for coach Edward Joyner and his Pirates.
The Hampton head coach even looked for divine intervention in his press conference on Wednesday, asking Jesus for help on how to defeat John Calipari’s men.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get an answer as Kentucky are trying to become the first team since the Indiana Hoosiers in 1976 to win the Tournament with an undefeated record.
With regards to players to look out for, it is easy to pick any man from the Wildcats roster as several of their players will be hoping to make the NBA in the coming years.
However, forward Karl-Anthony Towers is averaging 9.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game this season and will certainly be one to watch in particular.
Kentucky rank first in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, second in points allowed and second in blocks, so expect Hampton to have a really difficult time of putting points on the board in what looks to be an impossible task of toppling the No.1 overall seed.
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