Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Santa Clara (NCAA Tournament)
Over the last four weeks, the Kentucky basketball team has found a spark off the bench in junior Mo Dioubate.
The Cats are hoping that the trend will continue as they begin play in the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Friday, facing Santa Clara in St. Louis (12:15 p.m. ET, CBS).
Over the last seven games, Dioubate is third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.3 points per game. He’s also second in rebounding, pulling down 5.4 boards per contest. All of this despite playing just over 21 minutes per game. Dioubate has even connected on half (3 of 6) of his three-point attempts over the last seven contests.
On Thursday, UK head coach Mark Pope was asked about Dioubate and what he has meant to the team this season.
“There’s no surprise to us that Mo Dioubate is a positive plus-minus guy,” Pope said. “He brings so much intensity and physicality and brings so much to our team. In a lot of ways he has been the defensive emotional heart and soul of our group. When he’s great, we are great almost without fail. He bears a big burden on our team. Lucky he is with us.”
On Friday, Kentucky will face Santa Clara from the West Coast Conference. The Broncos are coached by Herb Sendek, who was an assistant coach at Kentucky under Rick Pitino. In fact, it was Sendek who first reached out to Pope during the recruiting process. Pope had high praise for Sendek.
“He was the first coach at the University of Kentucky to reach out to me in the recruiting process,” Pope said. “I fell in love with him in our first phone conversation. He is not just brilliant, he is way too smart to be in this game, but he also is one of the best people you will ever meet. Like he does things the right way. He cares about people. He cares about his program. He cares about doing the right thing. He cares about representing. He’s a kind-hearted, wildly intelligent, devoted coach, and he has been a good friend to me. I love him dearly.”
Pope obviously has fond feelings for Sendek, but that will go out the window for about two and a half hours on Friday as both coaches try to help their teams advance to Sunday.
Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament
Kentucky is set to make its 63rd NCAA Tournament appearance, the most by any Division I program in men’s basketball.
• In addition to the most appearances, UK also holds the record for most NCAA Tournament games played (188), and ranks second all-time in NCAA Tournament wins (132), behind North Carolina
• The Cats have won eight National Championships and reached 17 Final Fours
• Kentucky is 132-56 in the NCAA Tournament all-time, including 50-12 in NCAA Tournament openers
• UK has won 27 of its last 30 opening round games
• This marks Kentucky’s first NCAA Tournament appearance as a No. 7 seed
• The Wildcats hold an overall record of 13-4 in St. Louis, including 7-1 in NCAA Tournament games played in the city
• UK’s most recent trip to St. Louis was for the 2018 SEC Tournament, won by the Wildcats as the No. 4 seed
• Kentucky won the 1978 National Championship in the city of St. Louis inside the Checkerdome. Jack “Goose” Givens scored 41 points in the championship game as Kentucky defeated Duke, 94-88
Know Your Opponent: Santa Clara
Kentucky takes on Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The two schools have met once before, a 74-60 win for the Wildcats in Rupp Arena on Dec. 19, 2006
• Santa Clara is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996
• The Broncos put together a 26-8 season and reached the final of the West Coast Conference Tournament
• Santa Clara is a high volume, 3-point shooting team, averaging 29.2 attempts and 10.1 makes from distance, both tops in the WCC
• Christian Hammond is the leading scorer for the Broncos, averaging 15.8 points per game
• Freshman Allen Graves was chosen as both the Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year in the conference, averaging 11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game off the bench
• Hammond, Graves and Elijah Mahl were all picked to the AllWCC First Team
• The Broncos are coached by Herb Sendek, who served as an assistant coach at Kentucky from 1989-1993
