KSR Gameday: Kentucky opens 2025 NCAA Tournament vs. No. 14 seed Troy

Day one of the most magical event known to man has come and gone, Kentucky fans able to kick their legs up and enjoy the show as 16 games of the NCAA Tournament took over our lives on Thursday. Chaos? Always, with three double-digit seeds advancing while other big-time underdogs made things difficult on some of the heavy hitters. Plenty of favorites won and cruised to blowout victories, but there was good basketball making up the rest.

Now it’s time for the Wildcats to transition from bystanders to participants as day two tips off, Mark Pope looking for his first-ever March Madness win with his team set to take on No. 14 seed Troy in Milwaukee, tip-off scheduled for 7:10 PM ET/6:10 PM CT. It’s one of another 16 games coming at you Friday — this one just a little more important than the rest.

Let’s get rolling with some morning notes to get you ready for an important day.

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Kentucky vs. Troy: How to Watch, Listen

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• Television: CBS (Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy, Lauren Shehadi)
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: The Varsity App
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 210 or 203
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tip-off, or join the conversation on KSBoard.

Kentucky vs. Troy Odds

Spread: Kentucky -11.5
Total: 151.5

KenPom and Bart Torvik both project wins for UK, the former going with an 82-70 victory and the latter rolling with an 81-69 final score — nailing that -11.5 line with a projected (slight) cover. ESPN’s BPI likes the Wildcats by 12.9 points while giving the favorites an 88.8 percent chance to advance.

Mark Pope prepares for ‘championship team’ in Trojans

Kentucky is a double-digit favorite vs. No. 14 seed Troy, but don’t let that fool you about what the Wildcats are expecting from the Trojans when things tip off inside Fiserv Forum this evening. Led by head coach Scott Cross, Troy is a team capable of sending the blue and white back home to Lexington.

In hopes of avoiding that possibility, Pope has done his homework on the Sun Belt champions. What does he expect from the Trojans on Friday?

“Troy is a championship team. That’s the greatness of the NCAA Tournament. Everybody in here is a championship or a championship-caliber team,” he said. “Troy’s the No. 7 steals team in the country. They’re the No. 6 offensive rebounding team in the country. To put it in perspective, in the SEC, the best conference in the country by a mile, the only team that we played that was more effective on the offensive glass in the entire league was Texas A&M in a league that prides itself on being on the offensive glass. That’s how potent this Troy team is on the glass.”

Troy prepares for ‘pinnacle of the basketball world’ in Kentucky

It’s a two-way street in Milwaukee. Kentucky is obviously fighting to avoid a third first-round exit in four years — all against double-digit seeds, potentially — but Troy has to put together a game plan worthy of slowing down one of the top offenses in college basketball. What have the Trojans seen on tape to give them confidence as the heavy underdog?

They do things well that the Wildcats do not while all of the pressure is on Pope and his group.

“We’ve been really good at offensive rebounding all year, and we’ve been really good at turning teams over all year. We know that those are two things that Kentucky has struggled with a little bit all year, so we’ve really got to capitalize on those,” Thomas Dowd said. “… Kentucky is the pinnacle of the college basketball world. The opportunity to get out here and — all eyes will be on Kentucky.

“Everyone’s watching to see what Kentucky does in the tournament, so we’re just looking at it as an opportunity to show what we’ve got and show the world what we’re about. If I had to guess, a lot of people probably don’t know who Troy is, so we’re just super excited for the opportunity.”

The latest on injuries

Will the Cats be at full strength against the Trojans? Things are looking pretty darn good on the injury front going into game one of the NCAA Tournament.

Lamont Butler, who was ruled out ahead of Kentucky’s loss to Alabama in the SEC Tournament, is healthy with no setbacks this week in the days leading up to the Milwaukee trip.

“It’s feeling better. It’s feeling better,” he said of his shoulder.

As for Travis Perry, he hurt his shooting wrist in the loss to the Crimson Tide, but says he, too, is healthy against Troy. After a brief scare, he will play in his first March Madness game as a Wildcat.

“We’re all good there,” Perry said. “I mean, there was a — you have nicks and bruises come up, especially in the SEC, pretty much every night. Just a little bit sore there for a few days, but we’re good now.”

Otega Oweh’s lip is mostly healed with no setbacks on Andrew Carr’s back, either. Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa are out for the year, obviously, but everyone is good to go beyond those two.

Open Practice Highlights/Rapid Reaction

Why did Pope stop practice to demand silence from everyone in attendance during Thursday’s open session? You’ll have to see it for yourself — among KSR’s other highlights from Fiserv Forum ahead of Kentucky’s matchup vs. Troy.

How about a Rapid Reaction from open practice? KSR’s got you covered there, too, with Drew Franklin, Tyler Thompson and I breaking down the action from the arena.

Mic’d up with Lamont Butler

Don’t like our analysis? Fair enough. “LaMarch” Butler can pick up where we left off with his own mic’d up segment at open practice, breaking things down in real time as he gets his guys ready to roll in Milwaukee.

Mic'd up with @lamont_butler1 at open practice in @FiservForum. pic.twitter.com/zLey0pTGCc

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 21, 2025

Friday’s NCAA Tournament Schedule

• No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 9 Baylor – 12:15 p.m. ET, CBS
• No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 15 Robert Morris – 12:40 p.m. ET, truTV
• No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 Lipscomb – 1:30 p.m. ET, TNT
• No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s – 2:50 p.m. ET, CBS
• No. 7 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt – 3:15 p.m. ET, truTV
• No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 North Carolina – 4:05 p.m. ET, TNT
• No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Grand Canyon – 4:35 p.m. ET, TBS
• No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Norfolk State – 6:50 p.m. ET, TNT
• No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Troy – 7:10 p.m. ET, CBS
• No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 10 New Mexico – 7:25 p.m. ET, TBS
• No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 13 Akron – 7:35 p.m. ET, truTV
• No. 8 UConn vs. No. 9 Oklahoma – 9:25 p.m. ET, TNT
• No. 6 Illinois vs. No. 11 Xavier – 9:45 p.m. ET, CBS
• No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Bryant – 10 p.m. ET, TBS
• No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 Liberty – 10:10 p.m. ET, truTV

Kentucky WBB takes on No. 13 seed Liberty

How about two Kentucky basketball games on this glorious Friday? That’s right, Kenny Brooks and the Wildcats are set to take on No. 13 seed Liberty in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament with tip-off scheduled for 12 p.m. ET inside Historic Memorial Coliseum, LIVE on ESPN.

Kentucky sits comfortably as a 15.5-point favorite against the Flames, who sit at 26-6 overall entering the postseason with a 16-2 finish in conference play.

Liberty led Conference USA with a 36.9 percent hit rate on threes with 22 attempts per contest, 6-foot-6 center Bella Smuda the obvious standout averaging 11.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.  Guards Asia Boone (10.5 PPG, 36.9 3P%) and Emma Hess (10.1 PPG, 33.5 3P%) are also names to know.

Can Brooks and Pope both lead the Cats to their first NCAA Tournament victories at UK on the same day?

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It all comes down to this, folks. Let’s have a day with two big-time wins.