Midwest Region: UK could face Cinderella threats, blue-blood rematch
An early look at the Midwest Region — which includes No. 2 seed Kentucky:
For UK to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2015, it is possible the Wildcats will have to snuff out three Cinderella teams, then win a battle of college basketball blue bloods.
Smashing glass slippers
If seeds hold, Kentucky’s first three games in the 2019 NCAA Tournament will be against non-Power Five Conference foes:
▪ Abilene Christian. The private Christian university in Texas did not even join NCAA Division I until 2013-14. Also known as Wildcats, Coach Joe Golding’s team (27-6) won the Southland Conference Tournament even though leading scorer Jalone Friday and a second key player, guard B.J. Maxwell, were dismissed from the team in February.
Abilene Christian enters the NCAA Tournament on a six-game win streak, including a 77-60 spanking of New Orleans in the Southland Conference Tournament finals. In Abilene Christian’s sole game vs. a power-conference foe in 2018-19, it was blown out 82-48 at Texas Tech on Dec. 15.
▪ Wofford. If UK wins its NCAA opener and No. 7 seed Wofford (29-4) survives No. 10 Seton Hall, it could set up a delicious Goliath vs. David scenario in the round of 32. Wofford (29-4) enters the NCAA Tournament on a 20-game winning streak.
Both the regular-season and tournament champions of a strong Southern Conference, Coach Mike Young’s Terriers are led by sharp-shooting 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior guard Fletcher Magee (20.1 points, 42.8 percent three-point shooting).
Wofford went 1-4 against Power Five conference teams in its non-conference schedule, losing to North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi State and beating South Carolina.
▪ Houston. The American Athletic Conference regular-season champs (31-3), the Midwest Region’s No. 3 seed, have thrived with a suffocating defense. The Cougars are allowing opponents to shoot only 36.5 percent on field goals, a mere 27.4 percent from behind the three-point arc. Houston also controls the glass, outrebounding foes by 7.8 boards per game.
The Cougars have wins this season over major-conference opponents Oregon (Pac-12), Oklahoma State (Big 12) and, most impressively, LSU (SEC).
Blue-Blood Region
The three winningest teams in the history of men’s college basketball are all in the Midwest Region.
No. 2 seed Kentucky (2,290 all-time wins) is first on that list, followed by No. 4 seed Kansas (2,273) and top seed North Carolina (2,259).
If seeds hold, all three will reach the round of 16 in Kansas City — where the Jayhawks would figure to have a major home-court advantage for a region semifinals matchup against UNC.
If Kentucky reached the round of eight and faces either North Carolina or Kansas, it would be a rematch against a team UK beat during the season.
The Wildcats bested North Carolina 80-72 on Dec. 22 in the CBS Sports Classic in Chicago. UK beat KU 71-63 Jan. 26 at Rupp Arena in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Familiar coaching faces
The Midwest Region is stacked with coaches highly familiar to Kentucky fans.
▪ Roy Williams. The coach of top-seeded North Carolina is 9-10 in his coaching career vs. Kentucky, and is 8-7 against the Wildcats as North Carolina’s head man. Williams is going for his fourth NCAA title, having led Carolina to the crown in 2005, 2009 and 2017.
▪ Bill Self. Head man for No. 4 Kansas, Self is 6-5 overall vs. UK, but is 6-4 against the Wildcats at KU. Self is 1-1 head-to-head against Kentucky Coach John Calipari in NCAA title games, having beaten Cal and Memphis in the 2008 finals but fallen to UK and Calipari in the 2012 championship game.
▪ Bruce Pearl. Fresh off leading Auburn to an upset victory in the SEC Tournament, Pearl has the Tigers as the No. 5 seed in the Midwest. Overall in his career vs. Kentucky, Pearl is 6-14 against Kentucky — 4-9 as Tennessee coach (2005-2011) and 2-5 at Auburn (2014-now).
▪ Kelvin Sampson. In his ill-fated stint as Indiana Hoosiers coach, the current Houston head man only faced Kentucky twice, splitting with the Cats. In Tubby Smith’s final year (2006-07) as UK’s head man, Kentucky beat Sampson’s Hoosiers in Rupp Arena 59-54. The next season, Sampson and Indiana beat Billy Gillispie’s first UK team 70-51 in Bloomington.
Battle with Kentucky ties
The round of 64 meeting between No. 6 Iowa State and No. 11 Ohio State is a coaching matchup heavy on Bluegrass State influence.
Iowa State head man Steve Prohm is both a former assistant and head coach at Murray State. In four seasons as Racers head coach, Prohm led Murray State to a 104-29 record, including a trip to the 2012 NCAA Tournament round of 32.
Ohio State head man Chris Holtmann is a Nicholasville product and was a standout player who helped Jessamine County to the 1990 Boys’ Sweet Sixteen.
▪ Seton Hall head man Kevin Willard also has strong Kentucky ties. The son of former Western Kentucky head coach and Kentucky and Louisville assistant Ralph Willard, spent parts of his youth in Lexington and Bowling Green.
A shot at revenge?
If Wofford’s aspirations for a Cinderella run are snuffed out by Seton Hall in the round of 64, Kentucky would get a chance to avenge a regular-season loss if it makes the round of 32.
Behind a 28-point outburst by Pirates guard Myles Powell, Seton Hall beat Kentucky 84-83 in overtime in the Citi Hoops Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
This story was originally published March 17, 2019 at 10:01 PM.
