Trap games ... escaped

Good morning! NCAA president Charlie Baker says there’s progress being made to expanding the NCAA Tournament to 72 or 76 teams. He says TV partners have expressed interest in it. Doesn’t sound like he’s asking for fan input.

Let’s get to the rest of Wednesday’s news.

1. Did Kentucky and Louisville have something on their minds?

Perhaps Kentucky and Louisville got caught looking ahead to a their Saturday showdown. Both teams ended Wednesday with narrow victories as heavy favorites.

Lets start with No. 5 Kentucky, which was favored by -32.5 half points but struggled to create separation from Colgate in a 78-67 win. It was an odd game from the jump. Kentucky opened with a 17-0 run, but Colgate answered with an 11-0 burst. The Raiders even led briefly in the second half before Kentucky (9-1) regained control, going up by 18 with four minutes to play. A late push by Colgate narrowed the margin.

“I was proud of the way our guys kind of responded, we had some weird energy,” Pope said postgame. “There was all kind of weirdness. The 17-0 was a little weird. I think it made it weirder and we got weird.”

All five of Kentucky’s starters ended the game in double-figures, led by senior guard Koby Brea with 17 points. Junior guard Otega Oweh and senior big man Amari Williams each added 15 points.

An hour away, Louisville had quite the scare, narrowly defeating UTEP, 77-74, as -15.5 point favorites. Senior guard Reyne Smith hit two free throws with 6.2 seconds, and Pat Kelsey didn’t foul up three, giving senior guard Corey Camper a look at the basket. However, it hit the back iron to avoid overtime and snap Louisville’s three-game losing streak.

Senior forward Terrence Edwards came off the bench for the second-straight game and led the team in scoring with 22 points.

Postgame, coach Pat Kelsey wasn’t buying into the “trap game” talk with the Cardinals (6-4) coming off a game vs. Duke and Kentucky coming up on Saturday.

Coachspeak aside, it really doesn’t get much bigger for Louisville than the game on Saturday. A win against Kentucky would be huge for the Cardinals’ NCAA Tournament hopes.

2. San Diego State ‘got a little content’

Sensing a theme so far from Wednesday’s action? It wasn’t the prettiest night for the top teams.

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