MILWAUKEE — First-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope is extremely familiar with the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament legacy, but he’s also well aware of the recent history of opening-weekend upsets.The No. 3-seeded Wildcats face No. 14 seed Troy in the opening round of the Midwest Region on Friday in Milwaukee.Kentucky (22-11) was a No. 3 seed in 2024 when it was upset in the first round by 14th-seeded Oakland, 80-76, falling victim to a record 3-point shooting barrage by sixth man Jack Gohlke.This year, Kentucky and Pope have their own March hero back in action. Known to his teammates as “LaMarch,” Lamont Butler is a transfer from San Diego State. He made the buzzer-beater against FAU in the Final Four to send the Aztecs to the 2023 championship game and will play Friday after missing the 99-70 loss to Alabama in the SEC tournament quarterfinals.”I’ve been blessed with playing in this event for my fifth year now,” Butler said. “A lot of people can’t say that, so it’s definitely a blessing. I’m just excited to go out there and see what we can do.”Pope said Troy (23-10) caught his attention quickly in early scouting with a defense ranked in the top 25 nationally forcing turnovers and offensive rebounds.”They’re a really good team. Just won their conference championship. Really good guard. Conference player of the year,” Pope said. “He runs the whole show for them. They’re a very, very good team.”Tayton Conerway, the Sun Belt Player of the Year, averages 14.3 points and Myles Rigsby adds 12.0. Thomas Dowd is the leading rebounder at 6.8 per game. The Trojans outrebound opponents by 5.6 per game.The Trojans have won six straight and average 73.9 points per game.Troy earned its third berth in the NCAA Tournament with a 94-81 victory over Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference tournament title game, overcoming an eight-point deficit in the final 10 minutes.