Archie Goodwin, Marcus Lee eliminated from The Basketball Tournament
A pair of former Kentucky Wildcats were hoping to extend their run at The Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night, but unfortunately, both were knocked out of the event.
Archie Goodwin‘s Eberlein Drive lost 88-68 in the opening round to the Jackson TN Underdawgs at Freedom Hall in Louisville while Marcus Lee‘s Aftershocks were taken down by Heartfire 76-53 in the quarterfinals of the Wichita Region. Since this is a single-elimination tournament, Goodwin and Lee will head back home without a shot at competing for the winner-takes-all grand prize of $1 million.
But Goodwin at least made sure to put on a show before his squad was booted out. The 28-year-old guard was impressive all night long, finishing with 26 points, six rebounds, and three assists on 10-13 shooting (3-5 3PT) in 36 minutes of action. Goodwin’s biggest moment, however, was a highlight-reel dunk in the third quarter where the Arkansas native went up and over his defender for a monster poster slam.
Goodwin played one season at Kentucky (2012-13) before heading off to the NBA where he was taken with the 29th pick in the 2013 Draft. Although that season was a disappointing one for the Wildcats, Goodwin led the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game and was tabbed to the SEC All-Freshman Team. He began his pro career in the NBA, playing for three teams across four seasons, and has been overseas since 2018.
Meanwhile, Lee was more modest with his production on Tuesday night. The 6-foot-11 big man posted 10 points, six rebounds, four blocks, and three assists in his 30 minutes, going 4-7 from the field in spite of the loss. The former Wildcat/California Golden Bear appeared in four TBT games this summer in what was his third appearance in this event. This time around, his team came up just short of advancing to the Final Four in Philadelphia. Lee finished with per-game averages of 7.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks on 70.6 percent shooting.
Lee’s situation at UK was much different than Goodwin’s. He was in Lexington for the first three years of his college career but didn’t make a significant impact (outside of one NCAA Tournament game his freshman campaign) until his junior season when he averaged 6.4 points and 6.0 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per game. Lee would transfer to California the following offseason and went on to have an impressive redshirt senior run with the Golden Bears, averaging 11.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest. He went undrafted in 2018 and has been playing overseas since 2020.
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On a related note, a team made up of former Louisville Cardinals, The Ville, won its opening-round game in front of the home fans at Freedom Hall, taking down War Ready 91-67. The Ville is filled with some of the program’s most notable players from the last decade-plus. Russ Smith was the leading scorer with 21 points while Peyton Siva added five points and seven assists. Chane Behanan posted 10 points and four rebounds while Chinanu Onuaku went for 16 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
The Ville will be back in action again on Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. EST to take on the Jackson TN Underdwags.
Somto Cyril is up next
With Goodwin and Lee knocked out, that doesn’t mean you don’t have reason to watch the rest of The Basketball Tournament. On Wednesday night, future Wildcat center Somto Cyril will suit up for Team Overtime in round one of the Dayton Region. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound rising high school senior is the first amateur to participate in TBT, meaning he won’t be able to share a cut of the prize money if his squad manages to win the championship.
Cyril and Team Overtime will begin its TBT run later tonight at 6:00 p.m. EST in Dayton, OH against Carmen’s Crew, a team made up primarily of former Ohio State players. It will be streamed live on ESPN+ at the University of Dayton Arena. KSR will have boots on the ground to bring you immediate coverage.
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