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Kentucky basketball: News and notes from the NCAA Tournament

By Drew Koch

BOISE, ID - MARCH 15: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts against the Davidson Wildcats during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID - MARCH 15: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts against the Davidson Wildcats during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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The Kentucky basketball team won their first round game against Davidson 78-73 on Thursday. In a surprise upset, the No. 13 seed Buffalo Bulls knocked off 4-seeded Arizona, setting up a meeting with the Wildcats on Saturday.

The Kentucky basketball team defeated Davidson in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky draws upset-minded Buffalo in the Round of 32. The Bulls pulled the biggest upset of the tournament to date with a 21-point throttling of the Arizona Wildcats. Let’s check out news and notes from UK’s win.

  • Kevin Knox played 39 of 40 minutes and did not come off the court in the second half. Knox was the leading scorer for the Kentucky basketball team with 25 points. He was 8-of-16 (50%) from the field and 9-of-10 (90%) from the free throw line.
  • Nick Richards, who looked lost defensively against Davidson, played only 5 minutes and was benched to start the second half in favor of Sacha Kiellya-Jones. Killeya-Jones played 24 minutes, grabbed 6 rebounds and scored 8 points. Killeya-Jones was 4-of-5 from the free throw line. On the season, SKJ was only 56.4% from the charity stripe.
  • Hamidou Diallo was productive on both offense and defense. Diallo has 8 points, was 2-of-2 from the free throw line, and had 3 blocks.
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a stat sheet stuffer. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 19 points, dished out 7 assists, snagged 8 rebounds and had 5 steals.
  • Kentucky was 0-of-6 from beyond the three-point line. This is the first time in 1,047 games that the Wildcats haven’t hit a three-point shot. That streak began in 1988.
  • As a team, Kentucky shot 81% from the charity stripe. If they can continue shooting free throws at that pace, that’s a statistic that will benefit them enormously throughout the tournament
  • The Wildcats outrebounded Davidson 36-28, and once again kept their turnovers low with 10.
  • The Kentucky basketball team will play the Buffalo Bulls on Saturday. The tip time is scheduled for 5:15 PM ET. Buffalo, the No. 13 seed in the South, upset the 4-seed Arizona Wildcats 89-68 on Thursday night.
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