Patterson, like fans, enjoys March Madness

NEW ORLEANS – You may not be able to catch lob passes from John Wall and slam them home, or battle in the paint with some of the best forwards in the country, but you still may have one thing in common with UK junior forward Patrick Patterson.

A love for March Madness.

“In the hotel room I’m pretty sure all my teammates were watching the games,” Patterson said. “We’re more concerned about ourselves, but we’re still watching those other teams play, see who’s winning, seeing how they’re playing, seeing the stars of other teams. So, we’re just as much fans of other teams playing as the fans out there are.”

In a day with as many upsets, buzzer beaters and dramatic finishes as Thursday’s opening day of the NCAA Tournament, the fans were treated to quite a feast. From Murray State’s upset of Vanderbilt, to Old Dominion’s upset of Notre Dame and 15 seeded Robert Morris taking second seeded Villanova to overtime, Thursday had it all.

UK’s next opponent, Wake Forest, contributed to some of those dramatics as well, thanks to a jump shot by guard Ish Smith with just over one second remaining in overtime. The Cats, conversely, needed no dramatics in their rout of East Tennessee State.

“I’m hearing about all these other teams losing, I’m hearing about all these other teams winning, but luckily enough we got the win and continue playing,” Patterson said.

Patterson said, similar to fans, he too gets caught up in March Madness and when he was younger would fill out five brackets every year, each under different circumstances. Patterson said one would be an upset bracket, one would favor the higher the seeds and so on.

“People didn’t know that,” Patterson said. “I gave it to different people, different pools. So a couple times I won, and a couple times I lost but I always filled out brackets. I think everyone does around the nation.”

Patterson wasn’t the only one in his family who filled out brackets either, his parents do as well. Patterson said he thought his dad filled one out this year too.

Personally, I would think Mr. Patterson picked UK to go pretty far. But who does better? Mom or Dad?

“Definitely my dad,” Patterson said. “My dad’s more aware and he knows more stuff about basketball than my mom.”