Wildcats to Open NCAA Tournament vs. Santa Clara

This marks the first time in program history that Kentucky has received a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats hold the record for the most NCAA Tournament appearances (63), and most NCAA Tournament games played (188), while ranking second all-time in NCAA Tournament wins (132). UK owns an all-time record of 132-56 in NCAA action, winning eight NCAA championships and reaching 17 Final Fours.

The Wildcats enter the tournament with a 21-13 overall record and five Quad 1 wins on the resume. Among the team’s best victories are triumphs over St. John’s, the Big East Champion, and Arkansas, the winner of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Kentucky is coming off a quarterfinal appearance in the SEC Tournament this past week, where UK topped both LSU and Missouri before falling to Florida. The Cats were one of 10 SEC teams selected for the big dance, the most of any conference in the country.

Kentucky reached the Sweet 16 in Mark Pope’s first season at the helm in 2025 and return four scholarship players from that roster, including leading scorer Otega Oweh, Collin Chandler, Brandon Garrison and Trent Noah. Denzel Aberdeen won an NCAA Championship last season with the Florida Gators, while Mouhamed Dioubate has one Final Four and one Elite Eight appearance to his name from his time at Alabama.

Looking ahead to Friday’s matchup, Kentucky is 50-12 in NCAA Tournament openers and has won 27 of its last 30 opening-round games.

The Wildcats have met Santa Clara just once in program history, a 74-60 Kentucky victory in Lexington in 2007. The Broncos are returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996.

Santa Clara put together a 26-8 season, reaching the final of the West Coast Conference tournament. Redshirt sophomore Christian Hammond leads the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game, while redshirt freshman Allen Graves is the top board man on the squad, averaging 6.6 rebounds.

Should Kentucky advance to the second round, No. 2 seed Iowa State and No. 15 seed Tennessee State loom as possible opponents. The Wildcats are 3-0 against the Cyclones all time including 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament. The Cats are 5-0 against Tennessee State and 1-0 in the big dance against the Tigers.

Ticket information:
•    Public tickets for the first and second round games in Saint Louis can be purchased by visiting NCAA.com/MBBTickets. Fans will find complete ticket information for all NCAA sites, including information on the NCAA Ticket Exchange (NCAA.com/Exchange), the official secondary marketplace for authentic NCAA Tournament tickets.
•    Kentucky receives a limited allotment of tickets from the NCAA. Eligible K Fund members who requested first and second round tickets in advance of Selection Sunday will receive a confirmation email on Monday evening, March 16 from the UK Ticket Office with information on whether or not their request has been fulfilled.
•    More information about requesting tickets for all possible rounds of the NCAA Tournament is available here and will be updated as Kentucky advances. Those who are eligible to request NCAA tickets will be notified by email from the UK Ticket Office.