NCAA round of 32 preview: (1) Wichita State vs. (8) Kentucky
About 1:45 p.m. Sunday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis
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TV/RADIO:CBS (Chs. 5, 13); WHB (810 AM)
| P | No. | Wichita State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
| F | 11 | Cleanthony Early | 6-8 | Sr. | 16.0 |
| F | 20 | Kadeem Coleby | 6-9 | Sr. | 2.7 |
| G | 32 | Tekele Cotton | 6-2 | Jr. | 10.5 |
| G | 31 | Ron Baker | 6-3 | So. | 12.9 |
| G | 23 | Fred VanVleet | 5-11 | So. | 11.8 |
This is Wichita State’s first meeting with Kentucky. Shockers coach Gregg Marshall is 0-1 against the Wildcats, losing Winthrop’s season opener 65-44 in 2003-04 at Rupp Arena. Some high-profile teams, aren’t convinced Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet can handle pressure defense. His teammates won’t be surprised if Kentucky shows a similar lack of respect for VanVleet, who will be the smallest player on the court by several inches. “Everyone’s been trying to come at him all year,” Shockers center Chadrack Lufile said. “What do you think’s going to happen? He’s going to come out there and do what he does.”
| P | No. | Kentucky | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
| F | 1 | James Young | 6-6 | Fr. | 14.3 |
| F | 30 | Julius Randle | 6-9 | Fr. | 15.1 |
| C | 44 | Dakari Johnson | 7-0 | Fr. | 4.7 |
| G | 5 | Andrew Harrison | 6-6 | Fr. | 10.7 |
| G | 2 | Aaron Harrison | 6-6 | Fr. | 13.9 |
Kentucky freshman point guard Andrew Harrison injured his right arm in Friday’s win over Kansas State. Before Saturday’s practice, he said he expects to play. “It is in some pain,” he said. “I have just been icing it.” The Wildcats led the SEC in blocked shots with 6.3 per game but only shot 44.9 percent from the field, not great for a team with such size. Kentucky is 710 of 1,041 (68.2 percent) from the line this season. No other SEC team shot more than 918 free throws and eight didn’t shoot more than 800. The Wildcats last played a Missouri Valley Conference team in the 2009 NIT, a 65-63 Kentucky win over Creighton in Omaha.
• BOTTOM LINE:This story was originally published March 22, 2014 at 7:33 PM with the headline "NCAA round of 32 preview: (1) Wichita State vs. (8) Kentucky."