Kentucky overcomes wretched start to season

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- For the Kentucky Wildcats, reaching the NCAA Tournament for a record 49th time is the highlight of a turbulent season.

And the low point?

"We lost to -- what was the name of that school again?" senior guard Ramel Bradley said Wednesday, looking to teammate Joe Crawford for help.

"Gardner-Webb," Crawford said.

"We lost to Gardner-Webb," Bradley said. "You're like, this is ridiculous. Things can't get any worse at Kentucky. But then when you lose again to ..."

"San Diego," Crawford said.

"San Diego, it can get worse," Bradley said.

It's no wonder Bradley struggled to remember. Those losses came in November and December, an eternity ago in college basketball.

The 11th-seeded Wildcats (18-12) are a different team as they prepare to face sixth-seeded Marquette (24-9) in the South regional opening round today. The Wildcats surged into the postseason, and they'll try to keep rolling without freshman forward Patrick Patterson, their leading rebounder and No. 2 scorer.

"We know we're going to have a great battle with Kentucky," Marquette coach Tom Crean said. "There's really not a lot of weaknesses."

Both teams struggled through uneven stretches and appear to be peaking at the right time.

"They definitely remind us a lot of us," Kentucky forward Perry Stevenson said.

Marquette opened 6-5 in the Big East but went 8-3 overall down the stretch, losing to eventual champion Pittsburgh in the Big East semifinals.

The Golden Eagles have a balanced attack, with four starters averaging at least 11 points per game.

"Just the way we play, we push the ball, we throw it ahead, everybody touches it," guard Wesley Matthews said.

The Wildcats were 7-9 before they beat then-No. 3 Tennessee 72-66 on Jan. 22. Kentucky won 11 of its last 14, and 1 of the losses came by 3 points at Tennessee and another in overtime against Georgia in the tornado-ravaged Southeastern Conference tournament.

The Wildcats teetered on the bubble for weeks before squeezing into the NCAA field. First-year coach Billy Gillispie said his team had to show tournament toughness in a series of close calls near the end of the year.

"I think that's something that really bodes well for you, for your postseason opportunities and postseason chances," he said.