Will Oakland’s Defense be a Bad Matchup for Kentucky?

Kentucky players had fun at Wednesday's open practice but Oakland hopes the Cats won't have fun against its zone defense. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Oakland players certainly did not sound intimidated about playing Kentucky and even think their defensive style could be a hard matchup for UK in tonight’s NCAA Tournament game in Pittsburgh.

Here is some of what the Oakland players said Thursday:

Q. I believe your coach recently said he looked at Kentucky, and thinks you guys match up well with them. As you’ve studied them in preparation, how would you assess how you match up with them?

TREY TOWNSEND: I mean they’re a very talented team, a lot of talented players. I think for us personally with this matchup zone that we play, I think it’s hard for any team to kind of prepare for us and get what we’re about to throw at them. It’s not something you see every day. So I think we give every team a good matchup. I like the size we have. We can compete at every position we have, but like I said, our defensive style is not something you see every day so it makes it difficult for any team that we play.

Q. Trey, Blake, Kentucky has a roster full of McDonald’s All-Americans, and first-round NBA draft picks. How much extra motivation does that give you guys to go up against guys like that?

BLAKE LAMPMAN: Yeah. If you saw our nonconference schedule, you would see we’ve been playing guys like this all year. We played Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Xavier. So it’s not really about who we’re playing. We’re focused on us, and I truly think we can compete with anybody in the country and we’re going to have a great test on Thursday. So I’m looking forward to it.

TREY TOWNSEND: Yeah, I just think that’s where we’ve succeeded so much as a team is not trying to let those bright lights get too bright for us, just knowing that if we play our game we’re able to compete with anyone regardless of the status they may have. We’re just going to go out and out work everyone play and that’s what’s gotten us this far.

Q. With Kentucky having a lot of connections to Pittsburgh with Calipari being from here and a couple of the players from here, a lot of times a smaller school would be considered the underdog and maybe the fan favorite. Do you feel like you have a chance to win this crowd over or do you feel like there’s going to be a very pro-Kentucky feel to the game?

TREY TOWNSEND: I mean, obviously being a 14-seed against a 3-seed like Kentucky, you’re always going to be considered the underdog, but I think everyone loves a good underdog story. I think we’re very capable of beating a team like this and I think that just draws to the underdog story. People believe we can do it. We all believe we can do it. Our whole staff believes we can do it. That’s really all that matters when it comes down to it, is what the people in our locker room and our circle believe in and I know we all believe we can do it so we’re just excited for the challenge.

BLAKE LAMPMAN: Yeah, I think we’re all fully prepared that it’s probably going to be an away game tomorrow, but this is kind of what we play for. We love that. We love the nonconference schedule we have that coach gives us every single year and we play big-time teams at their place. No one is really coming to Oakland very often. So I’m expecting an away game and hopefully, we can have a result like we did at Xavier and get a W.

Q. Don’t want to put you on the spot, but you talk about everyone loves a good underdog story. I know you guys have watched a lot of college basketball over the years before you even got to Oakland. Do you guys have a favorite underdog moment in the NCAA Tournament? Any games stand out?

BLAKE LAMPMAN: The more recent one is — I’m going to probably butcher his name, but Doug Edert in St. Peters. It was crazy to see how he exploded. His name was everywhere. So as far as individually. And then you gotta think back to Davidson and Steph Curry and how they went on their run. That’s been all over my social media lately, and I remember kind of watching it when I was in high school, just watching highlights and stuff like that. So I would say those two.

TREY TOWNSEND: Yeah, I mean every single upset in this tournament is a special moment. This whole tournament is such a special thing. It’s hard to just pick one that tops the others, but if I just think back to my high school times and things like that, I think of Loyola Chicago’s run that they had. That was the biggest one throughout my high school time, but like Blake said, St. Peter’s that was amazing, and obviously Fairleigh Dickinson last year. It’s a great time. It’s March Madness.