Breaking down No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Oakland

No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Oakland

7:10 p.m. Thursday, PPG Paints Arena

TV: CBS

Winner plays: Winner of 6-Texas Tech (23-10)/11-N.C. State (22-14) on Saturday in second round

Series history: First meeting

Kentucky (23-9)

Coach: John Calipari (15th season)

How they got here: Kentucky earned an at-large bid from the SEC

Last NCAA appearance: 2023, lost to Providence in first round

Leading scorer: Antonio Reeves, sr., G, 20.0 ppg

Probable starting lineup

No., Player, Ht., Pos., Cl., PPG

1, Justin Edwards, 6-8, F, fr. 8.7

3, Adou Thiero, 6-8, G, so., 7.5

12, Antonio Reeves, 6-6, G, sr., 20.0

21, D.J. Wagner, 6-4, G, fr., 10.3

33, Ugonna Onyenso, 7-0, F, so., 3.6

Notable: Kentucky has a 130-54 record in NCAA Tournament games, including 32-11 under Calipari. This is the Wildcats’ nation-leading 61st tournament appearance. They have won eight NCAA championships. … Kentucky finished second in the SEC at 13-5, behind Tennessee (14-4). The Wildcats lost to Texas A&M, 97-87, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. … Ranked No. 12 in the latest AP poll, the Wildcats average 89.4 points per game, which is second in the nation. … Reeves became Kentucky’s 57th All-American and was a first-team All-SEC pick. Reeves averages 20.0 points and shoots 50.8% from the field. … Freshman Reed Sheppard was named the SEC and USBWA’s National Freshman of the Year. … Calipari is 410-122 in 15 seasons at Kentucky and has a career record of 813-260 over 32 years as a head coach. He has 57 career wins in the NCAA Tournament, most among active coaches.

Quotable: “I just expect a lot of effort. I can’t say that I expect anything but the best from our guys. And some of our dudes in the locker room, it’s their last go-around, too. And I know nobody wants to go out sad. So there’s 40 minutes of basketball to be played, and we plan on playing all 40, every single second of it, everything we got.”

—Tre Mitchell on playing in the NCAA Tournament

Oakland (23-11)

Coach: Greg Kampe (40th season)

How they got here: Oakland earned an automatic bid after winning the Horizon League Tournament

Last NCAA appearance: 2011, lost to Texas in first round

Leading scorer: Trey Townsend, sr., F, 16.9 ppg

Probable starting lineup

No., Player, Ht., Pos., Cl., PPG

2, Chris Conway, 6-9, F, sr., 10.1

4, Trey Townsend, 6-6, F, sr., 16.9

10, DQ Cole, 6-3, G, jr., 8.7

11, Blake Lampman, 6-3, G, gr., 13.2

13, Osel Price, 6-4, G, jr., 1.3

Notable: Oakland is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time as a Division I program. The Golden Grizzlies are searching for their first Round of 64 victory. They were a No. 14 seed and lost to Pitt in 2010. … Oakland won the regular-season title after going 15-5 in the Horizon League. The Golden Grizzlies went on to win the Horizon League Tournament, defeating Milwaukee, 83-76, in the championship game. … Townsend was named the Horizon League Player of the Year. He scored 38 points and had 11 rebounds in the Horizon League championship game. Jack Gohlke was the league’s Sixth Player of the Year. He is sixth in Oakland’s single-season record book for 3-pointers with 121. Townsend, Gohlke, senior Rocket Watts and Lampman have all surpassed 1,000 career points. Cole transferred from Henry Ford Community College, where he averaged 18.1 ppg. … Kampe has a career record of 698-536 in 40 seasons at Oakland. He became the fourth active Division I coach to win 600 games all at the same school in 2018. … Oakland University is in Rochester, Mich. … Oakland has produced five NBA players in the last 14 years: Jamal Cain, Kendrick Nunn, Kay Felder, Keith Benson and Rawle Marshall.

Quotable: “I mean they’re a very talented team, a lot of talented players. I think for us personally with this matchup zone that we play, I think it’s hard for any team to kind of prepare for us and get ready for what we’re about to throw at them. It’s not something you see every day. So I think we give every team a good matchup. I like the size we have. We can compete at every position we have, but like I said, our defensive style is not something you see every day so it makes it difficult for any team that we play.”

—Oakland forward Trey Townsend on defending against Kentucky