Kentucky to Face Houston in Sweet 16 on Friday
Second-seeded Kentucky earned its way to the Sweet 16 on Saturday, and the Wildcats now know who their opponent will be.
Third-seeded Houston topped Ohio State 74-59 on Sunday night to advance to the Midwest Regional in Kansas City, where the Cougars will meet Kentucky on Friday. Tip-off is set for approximately 9:59 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on TBS.
Kentucky advanced by beating 15th-seeded Abilene Christian 79-44 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, then topping seventh-seeded Wofford 62-56 in Saturday’s second-round game.
Houston cruised past 14th-seeded Georgia State 84-55 in its tournament opener on Friday. Then, the Cougars beat 11th-seeded Ohio State to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1984.
Kentucky is making its nation-leading 58th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 (59 on-court appearances as the 1988 appearance was vacated) and 27th in the Sweet 16 since 1975 (the first year that all teams in the tournament were required to win at least one game to advance to the Sweet 16). That’s the second-most appearances in the country.
The Wildcats are 21-5 in Sweet 16 games and 36-11 all-time record in regional semifinals (1988 game not counted).
UK has advanced to the Sweet 16 in eight of John Calipari’s 10 seasons and is 6-1 in the previous seven Sweet 16 games. No other school has as many Sweet 16 appearances as the Wildcats since Calipari took the reins. Calipari is 11-3 all-time in Sweet 16 games. Prior to UK’s loss to Kansas State in last year’s Sweet 16, Kentucky had won its previous eight appearances in the Sweet 16.
This is the seventh time in program history the Wildcats have earned a No. 2 seed in the annual event. UK is now 24-7 as the No. 2 seed. Most recently, the Cats participated as the No. 2 seed in the South Region of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, falling 75-73 to eventual national champion No. 1 North Carolina in the regional final after defeating the Tar Heels 103-100 in the regular season. Coincidentally, UNC is also the No. 1 seed in UK’s region again and will be in Kansas City this weekend.
UK owns a 128-51 record all-time in NCAA action, with its .713 winning percentage the fifth best in NCAA history. This is the sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Wildcats and ninth in 10 seasons under John Calipari.
Kentucky is 30-7 (.811) in NCAA Tournament games under the direction of Calipari. Calipari is 55-18 (.753) as a head coach in NCAA Tournament games.
Tickets for the regional semifinal games in Kansas City can be purchased by visiting NCAA.com/MBBTickets. Fans will find complete ticket information for all NCAA sites, including information on the NCAA Ticket Exchange (NCAA.com/Exchange), the official secondary marketplace for authentic NCAA Tournament tickets. Student ticket information is now available online at UKStudentTix.com.
The Cougars will enter the game with a 33-3 record after winning the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship on the shoulders of one of the best defenses in the country.
Houston ranks No. 1 in the country in field-goal percentage defense, No. 1 in 3-point field goal percentage defense and No. 7 in scoring defense entering the Sweet 16. The Cougars are also No. 5 national in rebounds per game and No. 8 in rebounding margin.
The Houston offense is no slouch either. Corey Davis Jr. leads the way with a 17.1 scoring average while Armoni Brooks adds 13.3 points and 6.4 boards per outing. Davis and Brooks have each made more than 110 3-pointers this season and four Cougars make 35 percent or more of their 3-point shots.
Kentucky and Houston have never met in the NCAA Tournament but the Wildcats own a 3-1 all-time record vs. the Cougars. This will mark Houston’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 1984, when the Cougars made the national championship game.
The most famous game between the teams came in 1984 when third-ranked Kentucky topped fourth-ranked Houston 74-67 at Rupp Arena. Kenny Walker had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Cats in that game, while Melvin Turpin scored 19 points and grabbed 11 boards. Alvin Franklin led Houston with 25 points and Akeem (later Hakeem) Olajuwon had 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.
