The No. 1 seeded Kentucky Wildcats take on the No. 16 seed Western Kentucky Hilltoppers tonight at 6:50 p.m. in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The Wildcats went 32-2 through the regular season and were 16-0 in the SEC, while the Hilltoppers went 16-18 and were 7-9 in the Sun Belt. The Hilltoppers barely beat the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils by a score of 59-58 to face Kentucky in the second round.
The Wildcats are led by Anthony Davis, who is averaging 14.3 points per game, and Doron Lamb, who averages 13.2. The Hilltoppers are led by Derrick Gordon, who averages 11.8 points per game, and George Fant, who averages 10.3. Kentucky averages 77.1 points per game, which ranks them 20th in the NCAA, while Western Kentucky averages 65.1, which ranks them at 238th.
The Hilltoppers don't have much of a shot at bringing down the top-ranked Wildcats, unless there is an epic Kentucky colapse. However, Gordon is hoping Western Kentucky can throw the first punch and make history on Thursday night.
"We're expecting to throw the first punch out there and do something tomorrow that a lot of people haven't seen before," said Hilltoppers guard Derrick Gordon, a teammate of Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in high school at St. Patrick's in New Jersey. "Nobody's ever seen a 16 seed take down a No. 1 seed, so we're just trying to make history."
For updates during the game on the Wildcats, head to A Sea Of Blue.
Game Date/Time: March 15, 2012; 6:50 p.m. ET
Location: KFC Yum! Center; Louisville, Kentucky
TV Schedule:
Kentucky: TBS
Atlanta: TBS
For more on the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket, stay with SB Nation's Selection Sunday StoryStream, and stick around SB Nation's NCAA Tournament hub for a complete printable NCAA Tournament bracket and tons of analysis on who was snubbed, who got the best bracket, and who will make it all the way to New Orleans and the Final Four.
