Kentucky relying on newcomers to end its recent history of postseason frustration

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Lamont Butler’s Final Four background has earned him a nickname as the former San Diego State guard attempts to end Kentucky’s recent pattern of March sadness.

“It’s LaMarch,” teammate Andrew Carr quipped. “That’s what we call him.”

Butler sank a buzzer-beating jumper against Florida Atlantic to send San Diego State to the 2023 NCAA Tournament championship game, where it lost to UConn. Now he’s one of nine transfers trying to help Kentucky undergo a postseason reversal of fortune.

Kentucky (22-11) is the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region heading into its first-round game Friday against Sun Belt champion Troy (23-10). Although Butler injured his shoulder in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, he says he’s feeling better now.

The Wildcats also were a No. 3 seed last year before a stunning 80-76 first-round loss to No. 14 seed Oakland.

Kentucky doesn’t have a single person on its roster who played in that Oakland game. All 12 of Kentucky’s scholarship players are newcomers. New coach Mark Pope, a member of the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team, rebuilt the roster after John Calipari left for Arkansas and brought plenty of his former Kentucky players with him.

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The new-look Wildcats will try to get Kentucky beyond the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend for the first time since a 2019 regional final appearance.

Butler knows what it takes to make a deep NCAA Tournament run because he did it at San Diego State. He believes this Kentucky team has all the pieces in place.

“We’re excited to go out and really just show what we can do, prove people wrong,” Butler said. “I kind of expected us to be in a good position from the summer to go win a national championship. That’s on our mind, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Pope’s had his own NCAA Tournament issues.

His BYU teams went 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament. BYU entered both of those tournaments as a No. 6 seed but lost 73-62 to UCLA in 2021 and 71-67 to Duquesne last year.

“We’ll approach this game against Troy like we’ve approached every single game all season long, with the same words, same intensity, same vocabulary, same urgency,” Pope said. “We kind of max out the prep and intensity of every game, and so we’ll do the same here.”

Kentucky’s chances of avoiding another first-round upset depend on how well the Wildcats control the glass and avoid turnovers. Troy ranks 10th in Division I in steals per game (9.4) and 11th in offensive rebounds per game (13.9).

“Our coach is always preaching, no matter who you are, the toughest team always wins,” Troy guard Tayton Conerway said. “As long as we can be the toughest team, we like our chances.”

Filling the tank

Pope gained plenty of friends earlier this week when he said he’d pay gas expenses for fans driving to Milwaukee to cheer on the Wildcats.

He wouldn’t speculate on just how many emails he’s received since taking him up on that deal.

“I’m on purpose not keeping count because I want to reduce my stress level before tournament play,” Pope said. “But that’s not the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”

While Pope was talking about gas stations, Troy coach Scott Cross has focused on another highway exit staple: Waffle House. Cross gave an interview in which he said he prefers to recruit guys who like eating at Waffle House, a comment that garnered plenty of attention as the Trojans enter the March Madness spotlight.

“Even our team meeting last year, when we were putting the team together and trying to convince everybody to stay, I was meeting individually with each guy, and I would ask them where they want to go,” Cross said. “Probably out of the 11 guys that were returning, probably nine of them said Waffle House.”

No time to rest for Xavier

Xavier coach Sean Miller said his team didn’t arrive in Milwaukee until about 3 a.m. local time after its thrilling 86-80 First Four victory over Texas on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio.

But the Musketeers (22-11) don’t believe the lack of rest should bother them for their Friday night game against Illinois (21-12), the Midwest’s No. 6 seed.

“To be honest, I like our position, having already played a game, having already gotten our feet wet, just coming into this game already knowing what to expect kind of in the March Madness atmosphere,” guard Ryan Conwell said.

History suggests Xavier is capable of making a deep run. VCU in 2011 and UCLA in 2021 went from the First Four to the Final Four.

Illinois faced the uncertainty of not knowing its Friday opponent until late Wednesday night. Illinois coach Brad Underwood is hoping a change in his pregame preparation this season pays off.

“We’ve been a team in the past that had been a two-day prep team,” Underwood said. “We got away from that this year. We’ve done a lot more one-day preps in terms of what we’ve gone over with players. Not giving them too much information. I felt like in the past we’ve killed them with numbers and too much information sometimes. We back off that. So, it’s not tremendously different.”

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