SEC and the Big Ten collide with a chance at the East Regional final at stake.
Kentucky is in its 108th season of basketball. Kentucky is the all-time NCAA leader in wins with 2,050. The Wildcats are 103-45 (.696) in the NCAA Tournament and 13-1 (.929) in tournament games played in the New York City metro area. The Wildcats own a 16-5 record in the Sweet 16 (since ‘75) and a 31-11 record in regional semifinals.
The overall No. 1-seeded Buckeyes enter their 13th appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16 after knocking off Texas-San Antonio and George Mason in the second and third rounds, respectively, last weekend in Cleveland. Thad Matta, in his seventh year as head coach, will lead the Buckeyes against No. 4 seed Kentucky (27-8) at 9:45 p.m.
ET Friday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The winner of the East Regional Semifinal game between the Buckeyes and Wildcats will take on the winner of the other semifinal game between No. 2 seed North Carolina (28-7) and No. 11 seed Marquette (22-14) Sunday. Ohio State enters the East Regional semifinal vs. Kentucky with a 34-2 overall record and the Big Ten regular-season (16-2) and tournament titles to their credit. The Buckeyes won their 13th outright (19th overall) Big Ten regular-season title and their third league tournament crown in six appearances this year.
Notes courtesy of ukthletics.com and ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
Buckeyes and Wildcats set for 2011 East Regional semi-final
Easy road for Ohio State ends with Kentucky, Sullinger could make a difference
Why this year’s Buckeye tourney run is more magical than ’07 run
Probable starters- Kentucky Wildcats
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
G 1 Darius Miller 11.2 4.7 1.7
• Avg. 12.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.0 bpg in postseason
F 3 Terrence Jones 16.1 8.7 1.9^
• Recorded 12th double-double against West Virginia
G 12 Brandon Knight 17.4 3.9 4.2
• Scored career-high 30 points against West Virginia
G 20 Doron Lamb 12.6 2.1 1.7
• Shooting 46.9 pct. from 3-point range
F 55 Josh Harrellson 7.3 8.8 1.5
• Avg. 12.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.4 bpg in postseason
Probable Starters – Ohio State Buckeyes
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
F 00 Jared Sullinger 17.1 10.0 1.2
• Team leader in scoring and rebounding
F 23 David Lighty 12.1 4.1 3.3
• Second on team with 118 assists
G 33 Jon Diebler 12.6 2.7 2.4
• Has hit a team-high 110 3-pointers
G 44 William Buford 14.6 4.0 3.0
• Shootinng 83.3 pct. from free throw line
C 52 Dallas Lauderdale 4.3 3.3 1.5
TEAM STATISTICS ………………………..UK ………………………OPP
SCORING…………………………………………. 2652…………………… 2227
Points per game ………………………………..75.8…………………….. 63.6
Scoring margin………………………………… +12.1 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT………………………… 932-2017…………….. 794-2019
Field goal pct …………………………………… 4 6 2……………………. . 3 9 3
3 POINT FG-ATT ……………………………..254-641……………….. 200-605
3-point FG pct ………………………………….. 3 9 6……………………. . 3 3 1
3-pt FG made per game …………………………7.3 ………………………..5.7
FREE THROWS-ATT …………………………534-747………………… 439-610
Free throw pct …………………………………… 7 1 5……………………. . 7 2 0
F-Throws made per game ………………………15.3……………………… 12.5
REBOUNDS ………………………………………….1317…………………….. 1175
Rebounds per game ………………………………37.6……………………… 33.6
Rebounding margin ……………………………..+4.1 –
ASSISTS ……………………………………………….443……………………….. 383
Assists per game …………………………………..12.7………………………. 10.9
TURNOVERS …………………………………………371……………………….. 423
Turnovers per game ………………………………10.6……………………….. 12.1
Turnover margin ………………………………….+1.5 –
Assist/turnover ratio……………………………… 1.2………………………… 0.9
STEALS …………………………………………………187…………………………. 181
Steals per game ……………………………………..5.3 ……………………………5.2
BLOCKS ………………………………………………..220…………………………. 123
Blocks per game…………………………………….. 6.3 …………………………..3.5
ATTENDANCE ……………………………………354046……………………. 289660
Home games-Avg/Game ……………………15-23603………………….. 11-15222
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 9-13580
Score by Periods ……………1st……. 2nd ……….OT…….. Totals
Kentucky ……………………1307…. 1339……….. 6 ……….2652
Opponents ………………….1094…. 1126………… 7………. 2227
Big Ten TEAM STATISTICS………… OSU……………. OPP
SCORING ……………………………………….1341…………….. 1153
Points per game ………………………………74.5……………… 64.1
Scoring margin ……………………………..+10.4 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT ………………………462-924………….. 437-949
Field goal pct ……………………………….. 5 0 0…………….. . 4 6 0
3 POINT FG-ATT …………………………138-305…………… 115-324
3-point FG pct ………………………………. 4 5 2………………. . 3 5 5
3-pt FG made per game …………………….7.7………………….. 6.4
FREE THROWS-ATT …………………….279-392 ……………..164-219
Free throw pct ……………………………… 7 1 2………………… . 7 4 9
F-Throws made per game …………………15.5……………………. 9.1
REBOUNDS …………………………………….546…………………….. 519
Rebounds per game …………………………30.3…………………… 28.8
Rebounding margin …………………………+1.5 –
ASSISTS ………………………………………….263……………………. 238
Assists per game ……………………………..14.6……………………. 13.2
TURNOVERS ……………………………………186…………………….. 243
Turnovers per game …………………………10.3……………………. 13.5
Turnover margin ……………………………..+3.2 –
Assist/turnover ratio ………………………….1.4……………………… 1.0
STEALS ……………………………………………115………………………. 72
Steals per game ………………………………….6.4……………………… 4.0
BLOCKS ……………………………………………..41………………………. 59
Blocks per game …………………………………2.3……………………… 3.3
ATTENDANCE ………………………………..161399……………….. 122803
Home games-Avg/Game ………………….9-17933………………. 9-13645
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 0-0
Score by Periods…………………………….. 1st………… 2nd……….. Totals
Buckeyes ……………………………………….642………… 699……….. 1341
Opponents ……………………………………..522…………. 631………. 1153
We’ve had so many threads recently, we must have enough for a flag or other tapestry by now. 🙂
So what’s the best chance for an “upset” tonight?? Marquette over UNC, Richmond over Kansas, or Kentucky over Ohio St ???
I’m thinking Marquette might pull that one out. Probably don’t see Ky or Richmond winning, but I would LOVE to see tOSU go down.
Halftime observations: Looks like Thad Matta sent his OSU players to the Duke School of Flopping. I haven’t seen so many players hit the floor for so little reason since I last watched a World Cup Soccer game.
Jared Sullinger re-proves the theory that having a huge butt is a good thing to have in basketball …. assuming of course that you have some athletic ability to go with it. Charles Barkley and Adrian Dantley were co-authors of the theory.
Play of the day so far: Kentucky’s Harrelson throwing his best fastball off Sullinger’s chest. Awesome! Too bad he didn’t hit him in the nose.
Wildcats win!!! I love it !!! How bout all those blocked shots. I am surprised but delighted that KY won. I thought their youth would betray them in this matchup. Harrelson was a huge factor.
“Play of the day so far: Kentucky’s Harrelson throwing his best fastball off Sullinger’s chest. Awesome! Too bad he didn’t hit him in the nose.”
That’s what you are going with?
Doesn’t say much for the game.