The #1 overall seed Kentucky Wildcats(34-2) face the #4 seeded Indiana Hoosiers(27-8) in the Georgia Dome at 9:45pm on CBS.
The announcers will be Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg. Tracy Wolfson will be the sideline reporter.
Kentucky is favored by 9 points.
[I]Here is the background info for tonight’s matchup:
[/I]
The 73-72 victory over Kentucky in Assembly Hall on Dec. 10 was the first time Iu defeated the No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll since knocking off Duke 74-73 on March 21, 2002 in the NCAA Tournament.
UK is 107-46 (.699) in the NCAA Tournament and 3-2 in NCAA Tournament games held in Atlanta.
The Hoosiers will play their fifth NCAA Tournament game in Atlanta. In 2002, Iu defeated Oklahoma, 73-64, in the national semifinals and lost to Maryland, 64-52, in the national title game. In 1984, the Hoosiers knocked off top ranked North Carolina, 72-68, in the regional semifinals and fell to Virginia, 50-48, for a Final Four berth.
The Wildcats are 66-29 all-time in games played in Atlanta with most of the recent action coming in SEC Tournaments. Since the 1999 SEC Tournament, Kentucky is 10-3 in Atlanta, and 10-2 in the Georgia Dome. One of the losses came to Georgia in Alexander Memorial Coliseum after a a tornado struck the Georgia Dome in the 2008 SEC Tournament moving the game to Georgia Tech’s arena.
UK is 32-11 (.744) in regional semifinal games, and 17-5 (.773) in the Sweet 16 which began in 1975.
Tom Crean is 3-3 all-time vs. Kentucky, including an 83-69 win over the then-top seeded Wildcats in the Midwest region championship in 2003. In 2008, he recorded a 74-66 win over Kentucky in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. He is 4-4 in his career against teams ranked No. 1 or No. 2 and 8-10 vs. teams ranked in the top five.
Head coach John Calipari is making his 14th appearance in the tournament. Calipari has amassed a 34-13 (.723) record which includes an appearance in the title game(2008), three Final Fours, seven Elite Eight appearances and 10 Sweet 16 appearances.
[U][I][B]PROJECTED STARTERS*[/B][/I][/U]
[I][B]Kentucky Wildcats[/B][/I]
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
F 3 [B]Terrence Jones [/B]12.6 7.2 1.8^
• Has three double-doubles in ive postseason games
G 14 [B]Michael Kidd-Gilchrist [/B]11.5 7.6 2.0
• Has seven or more rebs in 11 of last 12 games
G 20 [B]Doron Lamb [/B]13.4 2.8 1.5
• Hit ive 3s in win over Iowa State
F 23 [B]Anthony Davis[/B] 14.3 10.1 4.6^
• 18 double-doubles this season
G 25 [B]Marquis Teague[/B] 9.9 2.5 4.8
• Assist to turnover ratio 2.3 in last 18 games
[I][B]Indiana Hoosiers[/B][/I]
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
G 1 [B]Jordan Hulls[/B] 11.7 2.5 3.2
• Has a hit a team-high 70 3-pointers
F 2 [B]Christian Watford[/B] 12.2 5.8 1.3
• 81.9 pct. free throw shooter
G 4 [B]Victor Oladipo[/B] 10.7 5.4 1.4~
• Tied for team lead in steals
G 10 [B]Will Sheehey[/B] 8.6 3.1 1.1
• Shooting 50 pct. from the ield
F 40 [B]Cody Zeller[/B] 15.5 6.5 1.4~
• Team leader in points, rebounds, block
