HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t). Up next it is time to continue with the First and Second rounds of the NCAA Tournament with a look at the third of four pods in the South Region. St. Louis, Missouri was the site for the 6 vs 11 game between Michigan and Wichita State followed by the 3 vs 14 game between Kentucky and Western Kentucky. The Kentucky Wildcats were the top seed in this pod, but would they be able to win it and advance to the Sweet 16? It is time to find out!
FIRST ROUND – SOUTH REGION – ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
(6) Michigan vs (11) Wichita State
The Michigan Wolverines were one of only two teams to defeat the Gonzaga Bulldogs this season, and early in the year looked like they might be one of the top teams in the entire nation. Although they did come back down to earth, the Wolverines still finished the year 20-13 overall and had more than their share of quality wins. Michigan’s first round opponent was the American Athletic Conference’s automatic bid winner, Wichita State. The Shockers had an up-and-down year themselves, and might have been on the bubble for an at-large bid had they not locked themselves in with an automatic one.
The first half of the game was close the entire way, with Wichita State taking a narrow 4-point lead into the halftime break. The Shockers came out in the second half on a 16-5 run to build a 15 point lead 9 minutes into the period. Michigan was not done, however, and the Wolverines fought back to trim the lead to only 5 points with just under 2 minutes left to play. That was not enough though, as Wichita State made their free throws down the stretch and the Michigan season was over, falling by a final score of 77-68. Dexter Dennis scored 19 for Wichita while teammate Jaime Echenique has 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Final Score: (11) Wichita State 77, (6) Michigan 68
(3) Kentucky vs (14) Western Kentucky
Head coach John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats entered the NCAA Tournament with clearly enough talent to win the entire thing. However, this team had been quite perplexing all season, including suffering an extremely ugly home loss to Evansville early in the season, and dropping three other games to non-Tournament teams (Tennessee, Utah and South Carolina). On the other hand, the Wildcats had wins over Michigan State, Louisville, LSU, Florida and more. Their journey through the 2020 Tournament would begin with Conference USA’a tournament champion, Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers had been the preseason favorite to win CUSA, but when Charles Bassey went out for the year in December, their title hopes seemed to be dashed. A run through the conference tournament, however, put WKU into the Big Dance and gave them a shot against an in-state foe and one of the top teams in the nation.
With several major upsets already in the books in the South Region by the likes of Belmont, Liberty and Wichita State, the question heading into this game was whether or not Western Kentucky could pull one off as well. The answer, quite simply, was no. Kentucky came ready to play, building a 12-point halftime lead and rolling to an 87-61 win and a spot in the Round of 32. Immanuel Quickley was close to unstoppable in this game, scoring 29 points to lead the Wildcats to a second round matchup with Wichita State.
Final Score: (3) Kentucky 81, (14) Western Kentucky 67
SECOND ROUND – SOUTH REGION – ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
(3) Kentucky vs (11) Wichita State
John Calipari versus Gregg Marshall. Kentucky versus Wichita State. The regular season SEC champions were taking on the tournament champions from the AAC in St. Louis with a berth in the Sweet 16 in Houston on the line. Although Kentucky was clearly the favorite, especially after their strong performance in the first round against Western Kentucky, it was by no means a lock that the Wildcats would get past a tough Shockers team.
The Kentucky Wildcats had spent the season playing at times like superstars and at other times like they had no idea what the game was even about. Although the team that had beaten the like of Michigan State and Louisville had shown up for the first round against Western Kentucky, the team that lost to Evansville apparently showed up for the second round game. Wichita State was dominant the entire first half jumping out 26-13 early and cruising to a 49-29 halftime lead. Although Kentucky played the second half almost even with the Shockers, the Wildcats did not do anything close to what was needed to erase a 20-point deficit. Wichita State had another upset win in their pockets, with Jaime Echenique’s 19 points leading the Shockers to an 81-60 win and a spot in the Sweet 16.
Final Score: (11) Wichita State 81, (3) Kentucky 60
