In the East Region, UK will find an ex-Cat, other familiar faces — and 2 hated rivals
A look at the 2023 men’s basketball NCAA Tournament East Region — which includes the No. 6 seed Kentucky Wildcats:
Meet UK’s first foe
Former Kentucky Wildcat Bryce Hopkins is hardly the only transfer that No. 11 seed Providence (21-11) will throw against UK when the Wildcats and Friars meet Friday in Greensboro, N.C.
Of the top seven players on Coach Ed Cooley’s roster, six are transfers — including three from SEC schools and two who have played for teams in the state of Kentucky.
The Friars’ top player is unquestionably the one guy on the Providence roster that UK knows best — ex-Wildcat Hopkins.
One season after the 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward mostly sat on John Calipari’s bench while averaging 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds for UK, Hopkins has blown up into a legitimate star at Providence.
The product of Oak Park, Ill., is averaging team highs of 16.1 points and 8.5 rebounds for Providence.
Hopkins is joined in the Providence starting lineup by two other former SEC players.
Ex-Florida and Louisville guard Noah Locke is averaging 11.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and making 38.9 percent of his three-point attempts.
Former South Carolina guard Devin Carter has taken his game up a notch in the Big East, averaging 13.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and pilfering a team-high 57 steals.
Other transfers who are key cogs for Providence include:
▪ Post player Ed Croswell (13.2 points, 7.6 rebounds), who came from La Salle;
▪ Post player Clifton Moore (4.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, team-high 75 blocked shots), who has previously played for both Indiana and La Salle;
▪ Guard Jared Bynum (10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 170 assists vs. 47 turnovers), who began his college career at Saint Joseph’s.
Providence enters the NCAA tourney on a downtick. The Friars have lost their last three games to Xavier (94-89), Seton Hall (82-58), and Connecticut in the Big East Tournament (73-66).
For NCAA Tournament purposes, it is also interesting to note that Providence is 0-3 this season on neutral courts.
The top seed
Purdue (29-5), the Big Ten regular-season and tournament champion, is the No. 1 seed in the East Region.
Coach Matt Painter’s Boilermakers will be seeking to end a Final Four drought that traces back to 1980, when former Transylvania University coach Lee Rose directed a Joe Barry Carroll-led Purdue team to the national semifinals.
Surprisingly for a school with Purdue’s basketball emphasis, the school has had only two Final Four teams, 1969 and ‘80.
The Boilers are led by 7-foot-4, 285-pound junior center Zach Edey. A Toronto, Ontario, Canada, product, Edey (22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 69 blocked shots, 60.6 percent field goals) is the presumptive favorite for 2022-23 national player of the year honors.
In a tournament that tends to reward backcourt experience, Purdue will start a pair of freshman guards.
A 6-foot, 180-pound product of Westfield, Ind., Braden Smith averages 9.8 points and had 147 assists vs. only 62 turnovers.
Fletcher Loyer, a 6-4, 185-pound product of Fort Wayne, Ind., is averaging 10.9 points, but he is making only 36.6 percent of his field-goal tries, 32.4 percent on three-point attempts.
Purdue wobbled in February, going 3-4, but the Boilermakers have rallied to go 5-0 so far in March, including wins over Rutgers (70-65), Ohio State (80-66) and Penn State (67-65) to claim the Big Ten Conference Tournament.
This is the second season in a row that Kentucky and Purdue have been placed in the East Region. Last year, both the Wildcats (round of 64) and the Boilermakers (Sweet 16) were upset by the plucky Peacocks from Saint Peter’s.
Rivals
Two of Kentucky’s fiercest rivals and a major secondary rival are all in the East Region with the Wildcats.
▪ Tennessee (23-10) is the No. 4 seed. Coach Rick Barnes’ Volunteers have stumbled down the stretch, going 5-7 in their 12 most recent games. UT is also without point guard Zakai Zeigler, who has a torn ACL.
UK swept its Southeastern Conference rival during the regular season, winning 63-56 on Jan. 14 in Knoxville and 64-56 on Feb. 18 at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky and Tennessee could not meet until the Elite Eight.
▪ Duke (26-8) is the No. 5 seed — and one of the hottest teams in the field of 68.
Under first-year head coach Jon Scheyer, the Blue Devils have won nine games in a row. Duke beat three NCAA Tournament teams, Pittsburgh (96-69), No. 14 Miami (85-78) and No. 13 Virginia (59-49), to win the ACC Tournament title.
The length of freshmen big men Kyle Filipowski (15.4 points, 9.0 rebounds), who is 7-foot, and Dereck Lively (5.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 74 blocked shots), who stands 7-1, has made the Blue Devils’ defense stifling.
UK and Duke also could not meet before the Elite Eight.
▪ Michigan State (19-12) is the No. 7 seed. Coach Tom Izzo’s Spartans will enter the NCAA tourney having gone 5-5 in their 10 most recent games.
For Kentucky to have a chance to avenge its come-from-ahead 86-77 double-overtime loss on Nov. 15 to MSU in this season’s Champions Classic, both teams will have to advance to the Sweet 16.
Michigan State has beaten Kentucky the past two times the teams have met in the NCAA tourney, 73-67 in the 1999 Elite Eight and 94-88 in double overtime in the 2005 Elite Eight.
Calipari vs. Memphis
What would no doubt be an emotional matchup between Kentucky Coach John Calipari and his former program, the Memphis Tigers, could occur in the East Region finals — if both teams first win three NCAA Tournament games.
Coach Penny Hardaway’s No. 8 seed Tigers (26-8) enter the NCAA tourney off a 75-65 upset of Houston in the American Athletic Conference Tournament title game. The Cougars, however, played without their star player, Marcus Sasser, who was sidelined by a groin injury.
A familiar face
The star player for No. 13 seed Vermont will look familiar to those who closely follow men’s college hoops in Kentucky. Former Bellarmine star Dylan Penn is Vermont’s leading scorer (13.5 points).
A 6-3, 195-pound product of Evansville, Ind., Penn had 21 points, four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal to lead the Catamounts past UMass Lowell 72-59 in the America East Tournament finals.
Penn was stellar throughout the America East tourney, earning Reggie Lewis Most Outstanding Player honors after averaging 23.3 points and shooting 67.4 percent during Vermont’s three tournament victories.
Final Four coaches
There are four coaches in the East Region who have previously led teams to the Final Four.
▪ Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has coached the Spartans to the national semifinals eight times — 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019. Izzo won the national title in 2000.
▪ John Calipari has taken Kentucky to the Final Four on four occasions — 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015. Calipari also coached Massachusetts (1996) and Memphis (2008) to the Final Four, although both appearances were subsequently vacated by the NCAA.
▪ Tennessee head man Rick Barnes coached Texas to the 2003 Final Four.
▪ Marquette Coach Shaka Smart, whose Golden Eagles are the No. 2 seed, led VCU to the 2011 national semifinals.
From the awkward to applause, a peek inside the Calipari house on Selection Sunday
On paper, I like Kentucky basketball’s NCAA tourney draw. On the court, not so much.
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