Anaheim regional at a glance

* No. 6 Marquette (24-9) vs. No. 11 Kentucky (18-12), 11:30 a.m. – Kentucky isn’t used to being an NCAA tournament underdog, and has the nation’s longest streak of first-round victories, 16. These teams are the most common of NCAA opponents, having met a record nine times. The last was in 2003, when a triple-double by Dwyane Wade led Marquette past the top-seeded Wildcats and into the Final Four. Kentucky is paced by senior Joe Crawford, who is averaging 25 points in the last three games and 17.3 this season. The other senior in the Wildcats’ lineup, Ramel Bradley, averages 15.8 points. Freshman Patrick Patterson was averaging 16.4 points and a team-leading 7.7 rebounds when he sustained a season-ending stress fracture in his left ankle late last month. Like Kentucky, Marquette is guard oriented. Jerel McNeal averages a team-high 14.3 points and Dominic James averages 13.0 points and 4.3 assists. Forward Lazar Hayward averages 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds.

* No. 3 Stanford (26-7) vs. No. 14 Cornell (22-5), approx. 2 p.m. – Cornell has won 16 straight but hasn’t played in 2 1/2 weeks. Stanford is 13-4 in its last 17 games, a span in which its lost only once to a team not from Los Angeles. Any team that faces the Cardinal must deal with the Lopez twins, Brook and Robin, both 7-footers. They combine to average nearly 30 points and more than 14 rebounds a game. Cornell has its own 7-footer, junior Jeff Foote, who recalled Wednesday, “The last time I went up against a 7-footer [it] was my brother when I was only like 6-4. So it’s a new challenge, not just one, but two.” What the Big Red does better than any team is shoot. Cornell is the only team in the country to rank in the top 10 in field-goal (49.2%), three-point (41.4%) and free-throw (76.3%) percentage.

* No. 8 Brigham Young (27-7) vs. No. 9 Texas A&M (24-10), approx. 4:25 p.m. – This is Brigham Young’s fifth tournament in eight years, but the previous four trips ended in the first round. The Cougars have won 15 of their last 17 games and are led by 6-11 junior Trent Plaisted, who averages 15.6 points and 7.8 rebounds, and Mountain West Conference co-player of the year Lee Cummard, a junior guard who averages 15.8 points and 6.4 rebounds. Texas A&M finished sixth in the Big 12 Conference in its first season after former coach Billy Gillispie bolted for Kentucky. The Aggies are perhaps the most balanced team in Anaheim, with its starters and top reserve all averaging between 8.2 and 11.9 points.

– Mike Hiserman