Northern Kentucky Coach John Brannen Looking For Trophy Case

It’s a sea of green and blue as the University of Kentucky plays tonight.

Cincinnati upscale restaurateur Jeff Ruby has promised a free steak dinner for every Northern Kentucky undergraduate student if the No. 15 seed Norse upsets No. 2 seed Kentucky Wildcats in Friday night’s Round of 64 matchup. The Norse are a very good three-point shooting team and will need that to continue so they don’t get caught up in the length their opponent brings to the table.

“Well, that’s freshmen, so I will tell you this is all a learning curve”, coach John Calipari said. “We shouldn’t be playing this late, but that’s another issue for another day”. “It kind of gives you a little chip on your shoulder going into the game, with unreal energy”.

This year, Wichita State has a chance to return the favor in a game where, as a No. 10 seed, they may only end up being a one or two point underdog.

Luckily for NKU, UK was even worse shooting 3s. Overall, UK shot 44.3 percent. United Kingdom wasn’t ideal and made the game’s final moments more exciting than they should have been, but the Cats generally played loose and fast and didn’t get anyone hurt.

Adebayo made it a 14-0 run and a 14-point lead with a dunk on Kentucky’s next possession. Sophomore guard Isaiah Brisco had 17 and freshman forward Edrice Adebayo had 15. Monk, the SEC’s player of the year, missed all of his six shots from beyond the arc and finished with 12 points, eight below his average. The Hilltoppers won their second Conference USA championship in three seasons with senior guard Kendall Noble (16.1 points, 6.2 rebounds) leading the way.

This story will be updated after the game.

Fox scored 19 points and committed six turnovers. Les and senior Darius Graham provided one of the more emotional moments of the game, however, when the two embraced for almost a minute after Graham exited the game with 1:45 remaining. Thanks to another big scoring drought from United Kingdom in the second half, the Norse cut UK’s lead down to nine points with 54.8 seconds left to play, but United Kingdom hung on to win 79-70.

“We’re going to talk as a staff”, Calipari said. “We knew they’d trap, which they did”. No matter what had been asked of him, he simply listened and did his best to produce the anticipated results and they are starting to show through now.

None of the 17 players who played in Kentucky’s 78-76 win in St. Louis are on the current rosters.

Next game: Kentucky vs. Wichita State, Sunday, 3:40 p.m. TV/Radio: CBS, 98.1 FM WBUL.