Kentucky basketball vs. Iowa State: Get live updates, stats from March Madness

The Kentucky men’s basketball team has a chance Sunday to salvage its season gone south.

When the 7th-seeded Cats (22-13) meet ​​No. 2 seed Iowa State (28-7) at the Enterprise Center in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region, a trip to the Sweet 16 is on the line.

Though UK’s historical standards are higher, it would be hard to view this rollercoaster season as anything short of saved with a win.

But as with most successes this season, it’ll be hard to come by.

The Cyclones — despite likely playing without All-American Joshua Jefferson — will be a tough out, with emphasis on the tough. T.J. Otzelberger’s teams are known for aggressive play and rugged defense, and they’ll bring that with our without Jefferson.

“The great thing about Iowa State — and I think what T.J. has done so masterfully at Iowa State — is they have such an engrained identity of who they are,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “Clearly, Jefferson is a massive key to what they do. And so understand, I would — like he’s a special, special player, but Iowa State is going to be Iowa State whoever T.J. rolls out on the court. He could probably go grab five guys from the rec center and give them a week and they would come out there and just be an incredibly intense defensive juggernaut that was finding ways to score in big ways.”

You can follow Sunday’s 2:45 p.m. game in the live chat below, which also features real-time stats and play-by-play. Herald-Leader basketball beat writer Ben Roberts, sports columnist Mark Story and staff writers Caroline Makauskas and Cameron Drummond will be on hand for the game to provide news updates and answer your questions.