Marquis Teague

NEW ORLEANS - Kentucky freshman point guard Marquis Teague knows he's not a Louisville fan favorite after he almost signed with the Cardinals before picking UK. Teague will again be a focal point in Saturday's matchup between the two rivals at the Final Four and talked about his UK-Louisville ties Thursday: Question: Were you close to committing to¿Louisville coming out of high school in Indianapolis? Teague: “Yes. There were a few times where I thought I was going to make the decision to play at Louisville, but my father told me to wait a little bit. I did and ended up changing my mind.” Question: Why did he choose Kentucky over Louisville?

Editor's note: Jenny Jones is a Lincoln County and Centre College graduate now living in Washington. D.C., and a life-long UK fan. Did I have the privilege of watching one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, Adolph Rupp, rule the sidelines for the Wildcats? The answer is No. Was I able to experience the exciting history of Tom Payne becoming the first African American player to sign with the University of Kentucky in 1969 after much racial controversy daunting the program?

Marquis Teague isn't getting caught up in the hype surrounding the Final Four. “We're not trying to focus on any of that,” he said. “We want to take every game one at a time and work on the task at hand.” Teague is a big reason the Wildcats (36-2) are making a return trip to the national semifinals. Kentucky, the overall top seed in the Big Dance, will take on Louisville Saturday at the Superdome in New Orleans. Teague has transformed from a scorer to a passer, giving Kentucky coach John Calipari a chance to utilize his weapons in the post and on the perimeter.

ATLANTA - Sophomore Jarrod Polson has played only 31 minutes in 11 games this season for Kentucky, not exactly what the walk-on guard from West Jessamine High School hoped for this year. However, even though he's taken just two shots and scored only one point, Polson continues to not only be popular with his teammates, but also with fans. One magazine he recently named him one of the 24 “hottest” players in March Madness. Today Kentucky faces Baylor in the South Regional final and a win would send the Cats, and Polson, to a second straight Final Four.

ATLANTA - Marquis Teague isn't worried about lack of sleep. It's all part of the process in the NCAA Tournament. It would have been easy for the Kentucky point guard to complain of fatigue following Kentucky's 102-90 victory over Indiana in the South¿Region semifinals that ended early¿Saturday morning at the Georgia Dome, but Teague was wide awake Saturday afternoon talking about the team's next game, one that includes a ticket to next weekend's Final...

ATLANTA - Not many things upsetMichael Kidd-Gilchrist. The Kentucky freshman doesn't worry about individual statistics or media attention. If UK wins, he's happy. If UK loses, he's not. That's why stats don't matter to him. However, he was “mad” going into Friday's NCAA Tournament South Region game with Indiana. No, it was not because the Hoosiers beat No. 1 Kentucky 73-72 in mid-December, one of only two losses the Wildcats have. Instead, he was upset over an ESPN report by Chad Ford Thursday that Kidd-Gilchrist had already decided to put his name into the NBA draft and would leave UK. “I was mad. It was a false statement.

ATLANTA - Xavier's Justin Martin and Jeff Robinson, both Indianapolis natives, are not surprised that Kentucky's Marquis Teague has had a successful freshman season. “I remember playing against him when I was a junior and senior in high school. He was always a good player. I remember the special things he did for his team at Pike and he's doing the same thing here. Just on a more wide scale set with more talent,” said Robinson, a 6-10 junior. “I¿played against him once a year,” Martin, a freshman, said.

ATLANTA - Quincy Miller has averaged 11 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists this season for Baylor and was named the Big 12 co-freshman of the year and figures to be a key player against Xavier in the NCAA South Region semifinals tonight with the winner advancing to play either Kentucky or Indiana on Sunday. Miller seriously considered signing with Kentucky as part of coach John Calipari's top-ranked recruiting class before going to Baylor. “I like Quincy. That is one of my best friends in life period,” Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist said Thursday.

Darius Miller doesn't like to lose. The Kentucky senior guard remembers the sting from Christian Watford's 3-pointer at the buzzer that sent Indiana to a 73-72 triumph over the Wildcats on Dec. 10 in Bloomington, Ind. He also hasn't forgotten a 71-64 setback to Vanderbilt in the finals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on March 11 in New Orleans. Miller referred to both games as a “tough loss.” “We've got a lot of competitive guys and we don't like to lose,” he said.

It's not hard for Tom Crean to see that Kentucky is a better team than the one his Indiana Hoosiers beat 73-72 in mid-December. His only problem is trying to decide how many different ways the Wildcats have improved going into Friday night's game with his team in the NCAA South Regional semifinals in Atlanta. "The team defense, I would say for one. Then I would say, like any team, they're better offensively,” said Crean. “They've added things. (Anthony) Davis with the shooting, there's so many different things.