LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After a disappointing showing in the SEC Tournament, Kentucky now knows its NCAA Tournament path to try and not just avenge that, but last season's shocking first-round upset at the hands of St. Peters.
The Wildcats are a No. 6 seed in the East Region. They will face No. 11 seed Providence on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina.
UK enters the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 21-11. Following an upset of a road loss to Georgia on Feb. 11, the Wildcats responded to doubts of making March Madness with four straight wins to help secure their spot.
But Kentucky has two losses to Vanderbilt in its past three games: one to close the regular season and another in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. The Cats also have injury issues to watch with Cason Wallace, CJ Fredrick and Sahvir Wheeler.
Wallace did return to action against the Commodores in the SEC Tournament, tallying 7 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals in 37 minutes of action. The point guard left the first loss to Vanderbilt with a left leg injury and missing UK's win over Arkansas on March 4.
Guard CJ Fredrick played just 13 minutes in the conference tournament loss to the Commodores. He also played just 14 minutes in the first meeting with Vanderbilt and then 15 against Arkansas. Fredrick has dealt with a variety of injuries over his career, but right now, he is playing through injured ribs.
Wheeler has not played since Feb. 4 against Florida. The point guard has been fighting an ankle injury and also had a minor medical procedure ahead of Kentucky's regular season finale vs. Vanderbilt. John Calipari is hoping Wheeler can give UK some minutes in the NCAA Tournament.
It remains to be if they will be healthy enough to surround Kentucky's leaders in Oscar Tshiebwe, Jacob Toppin and Antonio Reeves. Tshiebwe leads UK in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.4 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. Reeves is shooting 41% from three-point range while averaging 14.4 points per game. Toppin is averaging 12.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Kentucky has not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2019.
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