Sports

NCAA Tournament: Sweet 16 games kick off at Philips Arena

ATLANTA — After a wild first round and a frenzy of upsets, the NCAA South regional games (Sweet 16) begin Thursday night in Philips Arena.

The Sweet 16 games feature matchups between ninth-seeded Kansas State against fifth-seeded Kentucky and 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago facing seventh-seeded Nevada.

Loyola-Chicago hopes to extend its Cinderella run through the tournament. The Ramblers upset No. 6 Miami 64-62 and shocked No. 3 Tennessee to punch its ticket to Philips Arena.

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The Ramblers hope their not-so-secret weapon – Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt – can continue her powerful prayers to help Loyola-Chicago continue its dream. The 98- year-old nun serves as the team’s chaplain and prays for the team before each game.

Lately, those prayers just might be working in the Ramblers’ favor.

"I say a prayer, but sometimes there's a little more than talking to God in the prayer," Schmidt said on "Good Morning America" this week. "We wanna be sure that, when the buzzer goes off, the numbers indicate that we get the big W. I pray for the other team, perhaps not as hard."

Prayer has been proven to work but Ramblers coach Porter Moser know it will also take a great performance on both sides of the ball from his team to beat a talented Nevada team that has proven it can win on the big stage, coming back from a 14-point deficit to defeat No. 10 Texas 87-83 in overtime and overcoming a 22-point deficit to upset No. 2 Cincinnati 75-73 to earn it a spot in the Sweet 16.

Wolfpack Eric Musselman and his team must also be at its best and get off to a fast start, instead of starting slow like it did against Cincinnati.

In an ESPN article, Musselman praised the talent and ability of the Ramblers’ team.

"They're a really, really well-coached team that presents a lot of problems. To beat Miami, to beat Tennessee ... this team is really good," Musselman said. "They have a freshman center who was freshman of the year in their conference. They have the player of the year from their conference and they have a bunch of really good shooters."

Key players to watch – Loyola Chicago

Cameron Krutwig – averages 10 points and six rebounds per game
Donte Ingram -- averages 11 points per game
Marques Townes – averages 11 points per game

Key players to watch – Nevada

Caleb Martin – averages 18 points per game
Jordan Caroline – averages 17.7 points per game and 8.7 rebounds
Cody Martin (brother of Caleb Martin) – 13.9 points per game, 6.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists

In the late-night game – the “Battle of Wildcats” – Kentucky is the favorite to win the game over K-State.

The Wildcats from Lexington, coached by John Calipari, defeated No. 12 Davidson 78-73 in Round 1 and No. 13 Buffalo 95-75 in Round 2 to earn its 43rd Sweet 16 appearance. Not to mention, Kentucky has 10 more appearances than any other team with the most Sweet 16 appearances. Both North Carolina and UCLA sit behind the Wildcats as the next front-runners with the most appearances at 33.

While legacy and tradition have been documented in favor of Kentucky, Calipari’s Wildcats will face a

Kansas State team looking to continue its March Madness dreams after defeating No. 8 Creighton in the first round and defeating the tournament’s Cinderella team UMBC 50-43 in the second round to earn a spot in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2010 under former head coach Frank Martin.

In his sixth season as head coach, Bruce Weber hopes to guide his Wildcats to another victory but with help from forward Dean Wade, who played a huge part in helping the Wildcats earn a spot in the tournament.

Wade, who suffered a foot injury in the Big 12 Tournament, did not play in the first two rounds of the tournament. The junior forward – who was averaging nearly 17 points and six rebounds this season –  hopes to play in Thursday night’s game.

“I’m like 98 percent sure I’ll play,” Wade said to reporters of The Mercury newspaper. “I don’t know if they can keep me out of this one. This is big-time.”

In Wade’s absence, Barry Brown Jr stepped up to lead the Wildcats in their two victories in the tournament, averaging 17 points through both games and showcasing lockdown defense on one of the best scorers in the country in two-time All-Big East selection Marcus Foster.

If Weber can get Wade back for Thursday night’s game, along with the contribution of Brown and the supporting cast, Calipari’s freshman players will once again be put to the test in showing their poise, calmness and tenacity, things that helped them become SEC Tournament champs.

Calipari and his Wildcats will aim to make their 38th Elite 8 appearance, while K-State looks to earn its 13th appearance and first since 2010.

Key players to watch – Kansas State

Dean Wade – averages 16.5 points per game and six rebounds
Barry Brown – averages 16 points per game
Xavier Sneed – averages 10 points and nearly five rebounds per game

Key players to watch – Kentucky

Kevin Knox – leads the team in scoring, averages 15.6 points per game
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – averages 14.4 points per game
P.J. Washington – averages 10.6 points per game
Hamidou Diallo – averages 10.3 points per game

The winners of each of these games will play Saturday in the South regional final (Elite 8). The early evening game begins at 7:07 p.m., followed by the late night matchup beginning at 9:37 p.m.