INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kentucky and Tennessee are adding a new chapter to their border rivalry Friday night. They’re taking it north, to Indianapolis, for their first meeting in March Madness.
This NCAA Tournament matchup has higher stakes but similar emotions.
Tennessee guards Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack spent Thursday’s news conference talking about just how much they despise the Wildcats. Kentucky guard Koby Brea, meanwhile, said he expects the second-seeded Volunteers to make some changes after his Wildcats beat them twice this season.
The two passionate Southeastern Conference fan bases wouldn’t expect anything less.
“I’m big on rivalries. When I don’t like a school, I don’t like it and I want to do everything I can to make sure we win that game,” Mashack said. “I’m taking this as serious as I possibly can, and everybody knows, we want nothing more than to not just win but make a statement with a team like this.”
Especially with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line against one of college basketball’s most successful programs.
The third-seeded Wildcats (24-11) hold records for the most March Madness games (187) and tournament bids (62). They also rank among the top five in tourney wins (132), Final Four appearances (17) and national championships (eight).
Another win over the Vols (29-7) would send Kentucky to its record 35th regional final in its first season under coach Mark Pope against either top-seeded Houston or fourth-seeded Purdue for the Midwest Region title Sunday in Indianapolis.
“They’ve been a really good defensive team, but I feel we’ve seen their defense a couple times this year, teams that do similar things. So we kind of just do what we do every game,” Brea said. “I’m sure they’ll probably try to change things up a little bit since the first two times didn’t work out too well.”
Kentucky has fallen short in recent trips to Indy. In 2022, the Wildcats lost in the first round to Saint Peter’s, and Wisconsin ruined their perfect season in the 2015 national semifinals.
This time could be different.
Brea helped Kentucky make 12 of 24 3-pointers — twice — against Tennessee, which has the nation’s third-best 3-point shooting defense (28.3%).
But if the Vols find a solution Friday, they’ll achieve one more milestone — reaching a second straight Elite Eight by beating their nemesis.
“We know we’re the best defense in the country. We didn’t show that either time we played them,” Zeigler said. “Just being ourselves on defense, going out there, showing we’re the No. 1 defense in the country and doing all the little things and everything then we’ll be fine. I don’t feel we did that in either game. We’ll make sure to do better this time.”
Seems like old times
Pope feels at home in Indiana. He was a 1996 second-round draft pick of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and played parts of two seasons under coach Larry Bird and alongside Reggie Miller. Both teams reached the Eastern Conference finals.
Despite appearing in just 32 games with Indiana, Pope also met his wife, Lee Anne, in Indy.
“Come on, I’m the most blessed human being in the world that I got to be here on those great Indiana Pacers teams in this tremendous city, playing for Larry Bird and Rick Carlisle and the whole crew. I’ll never forget it,” Pope said.
Memorable return
Houston guard L.J. Cryer played only three minutes as a freshman in the 2021 Final Four with national champion Baylor. That was the year the entire tourney was held in Indiana because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
So he was familiar with the setup when Lucas Oil Stadium, home to the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, is transformed into a massive basketball arena.
“I think we got the same locker room as that year,” Cryer said. “When I walked in there today, I kind of got the chills a little bit. A lot of good mojo for sure.”
Cryer left Baylor after three seasons and has been one of the top offensive weapons for Houston (32-4) over the past two years. He’s averaging more than 15 points over 73 games.
Changing times
Purdue coach Matt Painter has relied primarily on player development and experienced rosters to make it to six Sweet 16s over the past eight tournaments.
That could be changing soon. Painter hinted the Boilermakers (24-11) could be more active in the transfer portal after this season.
“We’ve taken two people out of the portal in four years, probably the fewest amount in the country,” said Painter, whose team was last year’s national runner-up. “It will be interesting to see where we go from here, though, because there’s no doubt that we’re going to use the portal. We’re probably just not going to use it as much as everybody else.”
Still the one
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes tried to end any speculation about his retirement. The 70-year-old Barnes said he’s not going anywhere next season.
“I think God will make it perfectly clear when he wants me to step down and my time will be up,” Barnes said. “But it’s not now. If it is, I don’t feel that. But I love coaching basketball. I love being around it.”
Barnes is 231-108 in 10 seasons at Tennessee and 835-422 in 38 seasons as a head coach, including stints at George Mason, Providence, Clemson and Texas.
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AP Sports Writer Eric Olson contributed to this report.
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