KENTUCKY WILDCATS (18-12, 12-4 SEC)
vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (24-9, 11-7 Big East)
Thursday, March 20 ? 2:30 p.m. ET
Anaheim, Calif.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky has been selected for its nation-leading 49th appearance in the NCAA Men?s Basketball Championship, earning a No. 11 seed, and will face sixth-seeded Marquette Thursday in Anaheim, Calif. UK will be making its 17th-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky (18-12, 12-4 SEC) faces Marquette (24-9, 11-7 Big East) in the first round of the South Region. Marquette and the Wildcats have faced off 13 times since 1938, with UK owning a 7-6 record over the Golden Eagles. Their last seven meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament. Marquette is UK?s most-played NCAA Tournament foe. The Cats are 4-5 against Marquette in the NCAAs, and the Wildcats have lost two-straight NCAA Tournament games vs. the Golden Eagles (1994 and 2003).
In the last meeting between the two teams, Marquette toppled the top-seeded Wildcats in 2003 Elite Eight, 83-69. Behind a triple-double from Dwyane Wade and a 24-point, 15-rebound game from Robert Jackson the Golden Eagles upset the No. 1 overall seeded Wildcats.
A member of the Big East Conference, Marquette is coming off a 68-61 loss to Pitt in the second round of the conference tournament. Marquette is led by Jerel McNeal?s 14.3 ppg, who is one of four Golden Eagles to average double-figure points, including Dominic James (13.0 ppg), Lazar Hayword (13.0 ppg) and Wesley Matthews (11.2 ppg).
UK owns a 162-67 record all-time vs. members of the Big East Conference.
Opposite UK in the pod in Anaheim are No. 3 Stanford (26-7) and No. 14 Cornell (22-5). Memphis checks in as the top-ranked team in the South bracket, highlighted by No. 2 Texas, No. 8 Mississippi State, No. 9 Oregon, No. 5 Michigan State, No. 4 Pitt, and No. 7 Miami (Fla.).
The winners of the two first-round games meet on Saturday, with a trip to the Sweet 16 in Houston on the line.
Kentucky has won seven national championships, been to 13 Final Fours and 28 Elite Eights. Last year, the Wildcats earned an eight seed, beating Villanova before suffering a loss to No. 1 seeded Kansas. UK ranks as the NCAA leader in NCAA Tournament appearances (49), games (141) and wins (98).UK?s 17 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the fifth-longest streak in tournament history, and the third-longest active streak behind Arizona (24 years) and Kansas (19 years).
The top-four seeds included overall No. 1 North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas and UCLA.
The SEC garnered six overall seeds, with Tennessee earning the top SEC seed, a No. 2 seed in the East bracket. Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and SEC Tournament Champion Georgia each earned berths.
The Wildcats No. 11 seed is the second-lowest seed in UK?s history, second only to a No. 12 seed, earned in 1985. This is the first ever No. 11 seed for the Wildcats.
The tournament culminates with the Final Four, which will be held in San Antonio, Texas, April 5-7.
2007-08 Kentucky Basketball
NCAA Tournament Selection Quotes
March 16, 2008
Kentucky Head Coach Gillispie Quotes
Opening Statement?
?I am just happy to be in the tournament. I am really excited about getting to go out west and play against a really good team. I am looking forward to that day and it will be here before you know it. I think it is a great testament to the guys that believe in themselves and what they are trying to do. I think we can all learn to have hope, trust and belief after watching this team survive so many intangibles this year. You would never say that this team has ever given up, and that is really the reason we are still having the opportunity to play on the biggest stage in college basketball now. It is every team?s goal and the most important thing I can tell you today is that this team earned its way in against all odds. I am very proud to be their coach and to have a chance to keep on playing.?
On getting into the tournament?
?You never know until your name pops up on the screen. I think when you look at winning 12 games in the Southeastern Conference, and really only having one bad night, then anything can happen. For a long time we have been playing on a very high level. We earned a bye for the conference tournament and because of mother-nature we had to adjust to a different situation. When you look at all the facts you see the tough schedule that we played how we finished the season, their toughness and injury problems then you have to think that we are going to be fine. But until your name comes up on the screen then you always have a little concern.
On Georgia winning the SEC?
?I was happy for Georgia, because that gives our conference another team in the tournament. Georgia is playing great basketball right now. I didn?t get a chance to see the entire game today, but I was pulling for Georgia. I wanted them to win because I think our conference has been knocked a bit this year and I don?t think it has been justified. In the past years, post-season play has given folks from across the nation the opportunity to see how good this conference plays. They have many champions and advance in the tournament as much as anyone in the past few years. Seeding is very important but it is not always the most important thing. The most important thing is to make sure you see your name pop up on the television screen.?
On the first-round game against Marquette?
?I have seen Marquette play only a little. As soon as we found out that was who we were going to play the video department told me we already have 29 games of film on them. We have already dived into studying up on them. We have great resources and great equipment here. Tim Asher in our video department does a great job of being pro-active in helping get us ready. Usually at this time when you are at other schools you are calling around trying to find and order games from people who do that as a service. This is really important for us to be so far ahead when you have to travel to the west coast and you play on Thursday. Tim has to be commended for the great job he does to give us the best chance to get prepared in practice for our upcoming game.?
On making the tournament?
?I told out team congratulations. It is what every team that plays at this level wants to do. The next thing I told our guys was that just like the season, we want to win every single game. We know Marquette has a great team and playing them will be a major undertaking for us. We have faced a lot of great teams and we haven?t backed down from anyone yet and we won?t back down this Thursday.?
Player Quotes
#3 Ramel Bradley, Senior
On getting into the tournament ?
?I?m happy to be able to play in the tournament again. It crossed my mind that Georgia may have knocked us out because people were saying that the SEC was not that strong this year and with them getting an automatic bid, it made me just a little nervous.?
On when they found out they were in the tournament ?
?Everyone was happy and started congratulating one another. The previous three years we knew we were in, and it was just where were we going to be. This year was a little different. We felt like we were a new team to the tournament and we all are really excited to make it to the big dance.?
On turning the season around?
?It is very rewarding because a lot of people were counting us out. We would hear that we were not going to make the tournament this year. We just kept working hard and kept improving. Now it feels so good to be in.?
#32 Joe Crawford, Senior
On getting into the tournament?
?I think our conference play really helped us. I was sweating today a little bit. I was relieved to see our name. I know we did enough to be in the tournament. You are never totally sure until you see your name on the television screen.?
On Georgia winning the SEC?
?We were very close to beating Georgia. We all tip our hat to them because they had a tough schedule to get to the championship game. They did an amazing thing today when they won. We were a little nervous when they won, but we always stayed pretty confident about our chances.?
On Gillispie?s reaction?
?Coach Gillispie said that we were one of the most deserving teams to be in the tournament since we fought back to earn our bid in. He said he is proud of us and it is time for us to go to work.?
