No rest for the wicked. Although the first full day of the NCAA Tournament will have already been in the books before the Kentucky Wildcats take the floor, they will have to be the ones to set the tone to start on Friday afternoon. That is because No. 7 Kentucky will be taking on the No. 10 Santa Clara Broncos in their first-round game at promptly 12:15 p.m. ET. Santa Clara hails from California, folks...
So not only does Kentucky need to wake up and punch Santa Clara in the mouth, so to speak, but freshman center Malachi Moreno needs to have one of his better games of the season. While he is only averaging 8.0 points per game this year, he leads the team with 6.4 rebounds per contest. If he takes advantage of his prowess on the glass, Kentucky can exploit Santa Clara where it is vulnerable.
Coming into the tournament, Santa Clara ranks a dismal 313th in the country in defensive rebounding at just 22.6 per game. Given that Kentucky is far better than average at 88th in the country along the offensive glass, many put-back opportunities could he had for Moreno and company. Head coach Mark Pope will have to love that. Kentucky should get many second-chance scoring opportunities...
Of course, Santa Clara has been a sexy pick to knock off Kentucky in this No. 7 vs. No. 10 matchup.
Malachi Moreno will need to hit Santa Clara where it hurts along the glass
Admittedly, these are the types of moments where younger players like Moreno can really make their own. To be quite frank, nobody is really a freshman anymore. Anyone who has played this season has experienced all the highs and lows of league play and their respective conference tournaments. With Moreno having been a vibrant part of Pope's allocation of minutes, he could be ready for this big spot.
Of course, teams that have more experience tend to do better in March over time. The one-and-done era of college basketball has largely fallen to the wayside in recent years because of the wonderful world of NIL. While Moreno plays for a different head coach in a different era of Kentucky basketball under Pope as opposed to his controversial predecessor, he has to know he is the biggest key here.
Let's be real. Kentucky is slated to get an absolutely brutal draw in the second round should the Wildcats advance. All signs point to them taking on the No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones in the Round of 32, assuming a win over Santa Clara is coming. Right now, Kentucky needs to take advantage of an early start time, as well as a more dominating prescence on the glass. Moreno must be ready for this game.
If Kentucky unlocks something in the first round, it could conceivably find away into the Sweet 16.