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2023 Bracketology: Kentucky, Indiana, and Texas Tech among week’s biggest winners

By Tristan Freeman

Feb 18, 2023; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Oscar Tshiebwe (34) walks off the court after the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2023; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Oscar Tshiebwe (34) walks off the court after the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports /
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Bracketology Kentucky Wildcats Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports /

Kentucky Wildcats

After the loss to Georgia last weekend, Kentucky found itself squarely on the bubble once again. Making matters worst, they were dealing with injury issues with guards CJ Fredrick and Sahvir Wheeler, neither of whom would play this past week. They did have a pair of Quad 1 opportunities, but they were hard on paper.

The first was on the road at Mississippi State, a battle of teams that were both on the cutline. It was a game that the Wildcats were mostly in control of, even though the Bulldogs made a couple of late comebacks to make it interesting. The final scorer was 71-68 for Kentucky, led by 18 points and 11 rebounds from Oscar Tshiebwe.

The second game was at home against a Tennessee team they had already beaten earlier and who had just beaten No. 1 Alabama. But they must have had an emotional letdown because the Wildcats roared out to a big double-digit lead early. The Vols made a little run in the second half to make it interesting but the Wildcats pulled off the 66-54 season sweep. Tshiebwe and Wallace each had 16 points, while freshman forward Chris Livingston had a double-double.

Kentucky went from having one Quad 1 at the start of the week to three, including two signature wins over Tennessee. They aren’t safe in the NCAA Tournament field as of yet but are in a strong spot. They have a road game against Florida up next, followed by Auburn at home. Spilt those at least and they’ll be fine.

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