NCAA Tournament: Wofford to take on Kentucky Saturday in second round clash in Jacksonville

Wofford senior guard and three-point king Fletcher Magee

For the first time since 2008, the Southern Conference is advancing in the NCAA Tournament, as No. 7 Wofford (30-4) dispatched of No.10 Seton Hall, 84-68, Thursday night and will move on to face No. 2 Kentucky in the Midwest region of the NCAA Tournament. Tip-off for that contest is set for 2:40 p.m. EST in Jacksonville. 

No.2 Kentucky won its opening round comfortably over No. 15 seed Abilene Christian, taking a 79-44 win. 

Notes To Know:

--Thursday night's win extended Wofford's nation-best winning streak to 21 games, and it also marked its 30th win in school history, making the Terriers just the third team in the history of the SoCon to ever win 30 games, and the first to accomplish the milestone acheivement since North Carolina State in 1950-51. The win also marked Wofford's first ever NCAA Tournament win in now its fifth trip to the Big Dance. 

--Saturday afternoon's game between Wofford and Kentucky will mark the first-ever meeting betwen the two programs. 

--Kentucky will be facing its third Southern Conference opponent this season, as the Wildcats faced off against UNC Greensboro back on Dec. 1, 2018, dropping a 78-61 contest in a very competitive game at Rupp Arena.  UNCG led that game 40-37 at halftime against the Wildcats. UNCG had a five-point lead on three different occasions in the second half, however, the Wildcats took the lead with 8:35 remaining in the game, and never relinquished the win en route to the 17-point win. Wofford went 3-0 against UNCG this season, including a 70-58 win in the Southern Conference Tournament championship game two weeks ago. Kentucky also owns a win over VMI (92-82) earlier this season. The Terriers went 3-0 against VMI, with a 99-72 win over the Keydets in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament. 

--In that win over VMI earlier this for Kentucky this season, the Keydets connected on 19 triples, which was the most three-pointers made against Kentucky this season. The Terriers come into Saturday afternoon's contest averaging 11.1 three-point field goals per game, and are coming off a performance against Seton Hall, which saw the Terriers connect on 13-of-28 shots from long-range against the Pirates last night, which equates to 46.4% from long range. The Terriers are second in the NCAA statistical rankings in three-point field goal percentage, canning 41.8% from three-point land as a team this season.  

--Both Kentucky and Wofford also faced North Carolina, Mississippi State, Seton Hall, Kansas and South Carolina this season. The one that stands out is Seton Hall, with Kentucky losing one of its two games at home to the Pirates this season, as Kentucky dropped an 84-83 decision to the Pirates. The Terriers thumped the Pirates, 84-68, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night. 

--You obviously know that Fletcher Magee (509 career triples) is now the career king of three, but did you know the SoCon might be able to make the claim as the conference that is the king of the three-pointer. The SoCon is distinguished at the NCAA Division I level for being the league that had the first-ever made three-pointer (Ronnie Carr, Western Carolina, Nov. 29, 1980), second-most threes made by a freshman (Stephen Curry, Davidson, 162 in 2006-07), most threes in a single game (Jordan Lyons--Furman 15 vs. North Greenville, Nov. 15, 2018/Keith Veney 15--Marshall vs. Morehead State, Dec. 14, 1996), and third-highest three-point field goal percentage by a player in a single season (Keith "Mister" Jennings--East Tennessee State, 59.2%, 1990-91).

--Wofford continues to be led by its three-headed monster of Fletcher Magee (20.6 PPG), Cameron Jackson (14.6 PPG) and Nathan Hoover (13.3 PPG). Kentucky counters with Tyler Herro (14.2 PPG), Reid Travis (11.4 PPG), and Keldon Johnson (13.8 PPG). Big man and leading scorer P.J. Washington will miss the game with a sprained foot. 

--Wofford will be at a size disadvantage at nearly every position  in the matchup, with Kentucky having three guards in its starting five no shorter than 6-3. Things should be a little more favorable for the likes of Cameron Jackson and Chevez Goodwin in the post for the Terriers, as those two players starting for the Wildcats are both at 6-8, respectively. 

--John Calipari has never faced Wofford head coach Mike Young, however, he is 1-0 against Wofford. Calipari faced off against the Terriers in the 2001-02 season opener when he was the head coach at Memphis. That would be the last season for Wofford head coach Richard Johnson, who handed over the reins to his top assistant, Mike Young, following his retirement at the end of the season. In that meeting back on Nov. 13, 2001, it was the highly anticipated debut of college basketball's top high school prospect that season, Dajuan Wagner, who led the Tigers with 32 points, en route to an 88-61 win over the Terriers.