Kentucky's Early Exit, Iowa State Advances

0:00On March 23rd, the 7th-seated Kentucky Wildcats scraped by the 10th-seated Santa Clara Broncos in the first round of the NCAA tournament, winning. 89-84 in overtime. A half-core buzzer-beater from Otega OA tied it at the end of regulation and kept their hopes alive. But their run ended quickly in the second round, with an 82-63 loss to the second-seated Iowa State Cyclones. Kentucky got strong gains from their seniors, with OA scoring 18 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and adding 2 steals while Denzel Aberdeen led the team with 20 points. Iowa State's Tam and Lipsi dominated with 26 points to carry his squad. This marks Coach Mark Pope's second-year Kentucky after moving from BYU, where his team grabbed a third seed last season but fell in the suite. 16. Fans are not happy with another early exit, especially for a program with such high standards. Social media is buzzing with calls to fire Pope after just two tournaments, saying the wildcats deserve deeper runs from a blue blood team like theirs.

1:05Iowa State advances to the suite 16, set to play the winner between the third-seated Virginia Cavaliers and the 6th-seated Tennessee, volunteers. Kentucky heads into the offseason with questions about their direction, but the talent is there for a stronger push next year.