PREVIEW: Kentucky begins NCAA Tournament run against James Madison in Morgantown

Kentucky’s first game of the NCAA Tournament will be against James Madison where, as you probably know by now, Kenny Brooks played and coached. However, there won’t be any room for reminiscing on Saturday, so here’s what you need to know about the Dukes heading into the first-round matchup.

James Madison is led by head coach Sean O’Regan, who served as an assistant under Brooks from 2007-2016 at James Madison. He took over the program when Brooks left for Virginia Tech.

O’Regan is 236-89 (.726) as the coach of the Dukes, and in 2024-25, he led James Madison to a 30-6 record while going undefeated in the Sun Belt as he was named the conference’s coach of the year. This is their first year in the NCAA Tournament since the 2022-23 season. O’Regan is still searching for his first win the big dance as a head coach.

James Madison is 26-8 and coming off a 17-point victory against Troy in the Sun Belt Championship. After starting this year 14-8 and just 6-4 in the conference, O’Regan’s squad has won 12 games in a row leading up to their matchup with Kentucky.

He has a lot of experience to work with, most notably fifth-year senior Peyton McDaniel, who is putting up 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The 6-footer can step out beyond the three-point line and knock it down too, making 34.9% of her shots from deep.

Graduate senior Ashanti Barnes is having the best season of her career, recording 14.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Former Michigan State Spartan Bree Robinson is averaging 12.1 points per game as well, making that three Dukes that average double figures in scoring.

James Madison is an elite rebounding team, sitting at No. 13 in the nation in rebounds per game (42.2). That figure would rank third in the SEC.

James Madison Dukes roster

NCAA Tournament Fort Worth 3 Region Bracket

Projected Kentucky Starters

#5 – Tonie Morgan

5-FOOT-8 – GUARD – SENIOR

13.8 PPG – 8.2 APG – 3.1 RPG

#8 – Asia Boone

5-FOOT-8 – GUARD – JUNIOR

10.2 PPG – 2.7 RPG – 2.3 APG

#32 – Amelia Hassett

6-FOOT-4 – FORWARD – SENIOR

10.6 PPG – 5.4 RPG – 1.6 APG

#7 – Teonni Key

6-FOOT-5 – FORWARD – SENIOR

11.2 PPG – 7.2 RPG – 1.2 BPG

#13 – Clara Strack

6-FOOT-5 – CENTER – JUNIOR

17.1 PPG – 10 RPG – 2.6 BPG

Phoenix’s Prediction

Score: 76-59, Kentucky

MVP: Tonie Morgan

James Madison is a really good mid-major program that has seen great levels of success under head coach Sean O’Regan. The Dukes are a team that could give Kentucky some trouble for much of this game — if not pull off the upset — but I’ll have the Cats handling business in order to advance to the second round.

How to Watch/Listen

Location	Tipoff	TV	Radio	Live Stats
Hope Coliseum (Morgantown, WV)	2:30 p.m. ET	ESPNU (Brenda VanLengen and Anne O’Neil)	630 WLAP, 790 WKRD (Darren Headrick)	StatBroadcast

Join The Discussion on KSBoard

Want to interact with the KSR crew during tonight’s game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).