Kentucky (21-11) continually has one of the most talented teams in the country, but that doesn’t always equate to NCAA Tournament success as evidenced by the 85-79 defeat against St. Peter’s as -18 point favorites in the first round one year ago to the day. Providence (21-11) tries to make it two early exits in a row for UK, but the Friars have also lost four of their last five. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wildcats couldn’t get past the first round last year despite a dominating 30 point, 16 rebound performance from eventual Naismith Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe<\/strong>. Tschiebwe averaged 16.4\/13.1 as he returned to Lexington this season<\/a>, but we’ve seen that even when Tschiebwe is at his best it doesn’t guarantee a Wildcats win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kentucky finished the regular season with wins in five of their last six games, but it was Vanderbilt that proved to be their nemesis, beating UK on March 1st and then eliminating them from the SEC Tournament. The Friars also lost in their first conference tournament game though, losing 73-66 to UConn to make it three straight losses coming into March Madness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n