Kentucky and Santa Clara meet in opening round of NCAA Tournament

Audio By Carbonatix

Santa Clara Broncos (26-8, 17-4 WCC) vs. Kentucky Wildcats (21-13, 12-9 SEC)

St. Louis; Friday, 12:15 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Wildcats -3.5; over/under is 160.5

BOTTOM LINE: Kentucky and Santa Clara meet in the NCAA Tournament opening round.

The Wildcats are 12-9 against SEC opponents and 9-4 in non-conference play. Kentucky scores 80.8 points and has outscored opponents by 7.0 points per game.

The Broncos' record in WCC games is 17-4. Santa Clara is second in the WCC scoring 82.9 points per game and is shooting 46.8%.

Kentucky averages 8.1 made 3-pointers per game, 1.1 more made shots than the 7.0 per game Santa Clara gives up. Santa Clara averages 10.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.7 more made shots on average than the 7.4 per game Kentucky gives up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Collin Chandler averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, scoring 9.9 points while shooting 42.7% from beyond the arc. Otega Oweh is averaging 18.2 points and 1.8 steals over the last 10 games.

Christian Hammond is averaging 15.8 points for the Broncos. Allen Graves is averaging 14.6 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 4-6, averaging 78.8 points, 32.6 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 6.8 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.8 points per game.

Broncos: 7-3, averaging 81.1 points, 30.4 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 8.0 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.