NCAA Tournament College Basketball East Region Schedule Thursday: Kentucky Wildcats Begins Pursuit for National Title

The NCAA Tournament will kick off its second half of Day One with East Region action that features a number of national title contenders, chief among them the Kentucky Wildcats. Seeking redemption for a disappointing regular season, the Texas Longhorns could also put together a solid run if their talent comes together at the right time.

The #1 Kentucky Wildcats (32-2) are stacked with young talent and that will be on display when they take on the #16 East Tennessee State Buccaneers (20-14) on Thursday. Kentucky is clearly the better team but East Tennessee won’t be starring wide-eyed as they faced Louisville and Tennessee in the regular season and while they lost they weren’t embarrassed. That may be all they can hope for against Kentucky.

Kentucky’s bench should see plenty of action in this blowout. Tip Off set for 7:15 p.m. ET.

Tipping off just five minutes after the Kentucky-East Tennessee State will be the #6 Marquette Golden Eagles (22-11) and the #11 Washington Huskies (24-9). While Marquette posted an 11-7 record in the Big East seven of those wins came against schools with losing records in the conference and two came against schools with .500 records. The Huskies enter the tournament with seven straight wins and a lot of talent and after a slow start to the season they appear to be peaking at the right time.

Washington should keep their momentum rolling and catch Marquette in this one. Tip Off set for 7:20 p.m. ET.

Perhaps the most dangerous team entering the NCAA Tournament is the #8 Texas Longhorns (24-9) and they’ll face an equally talented #9 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (19-10) squad. The Longhorns were once the #1 team in the country, starting the season 17-0 while Wake has dropped five of their last six games after picking up wins against Gonzaga, Xavier and Richmond earlier in the year. This could easily be the game that gets things started for one of these schools.

Wake Forest won’t lose this game. Tip Off set for 9:35 p.m. ET.

The #3 New Mexico Lobos (29-4) will be taking on the #14 Montana Grizzlies (22-9) in the final East Region matchup of Day One. New Mexico has put together winning streaks of 12 games and 15 games and two of their losses came against San Diego State. Montana earned their spot in the NCAA Tournament with a Big Sky tournament title but they lack a quality win outside their conference.

New Mexico should bomb Montana in this one. Tip Off set for 9:40 p.m. ET.

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