No. 10 Santa Clara is looking to steal a win against the No. 7-seeded Kentucky Wildcats on Friday. The teams will meet at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
Head coach Mark Pope has the Wildcats back in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The team will look to surge and build on last season’s Sweet 16 run. Kentucky endured a tough SEC schedule that featured a huge win at Arkansas and a regular-season sweep of Missouri.
How to Watch the Kentucky vs. Santa Clara NCAA Tournament Game
Fans can watch the game on CBS. Spero Dedes and Jim Spanarkel will be on the call, while Jon Rothstein will be on the sidelines. For streaming, fans can watch live on Fubo, and the platform offers a free trial for new subscribers. Another streaming option for all CBS games in the tournament is Paramount+.
After a heartbreaking exit in the SEC quarterfinals, Kentucky is looking to take back its status as a March juggernaut. However, Kentucky fans know that tournament aspirations can shatter in the first round. The Wildcats will have their work cut out for them as they face the 26-8 Santa Clara Broncos, a fierce team out of the WCC.
The Broncos, led by head coach and former Rick Pitino assistant Herb Sendek, are making their first tournament appearance since 1996. Santa Clara brings an efficient offense to the table with a deadly backcourt duo of Christian Hammond and Elijah Mahi.
Kentucky has veteran leadership and a good bench. While Santa Clara’s squad gives the Broncos a good chance to pull off an upset, the historical advantage goes to Kentucky, which won the only past matchup in 2006. To avoid another early exit, Kentucky will have to be sharp and sound from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
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After all, Santa Clara has already stood on business against competition, so Kentucky will have to keep errors to a minimum. The Wildcats are behind North Carolina by two wins for the most victories of any program in the NCAA. Santa Clara is making a run in the tournament for the 12th time.
The matchup between Kentucky and Santa Clara is scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m. ET on Friday, March 20, at the Enterprise Center. In addition to TV and streaming, fans can listen to the game on SiriusXM Channel 201. New subscribers can listen to the station for free for four months.
