DES MOINES — Kentucky and Kansas, the bluest of the blue-blood programs, attract big crowds everywhere they go, even for practice. When the Wildcats and Coach John Calipari took the court at Wells Fargo Arena for their 40-minute session on Wednesday, about 3,000 people, mostly from the area, greeted them warmly.
When Kentucky was finished — Kansas had practiced earlier — most of the fans took it as their cue to leave. By the time Stony Brook, the team scheduled last, walked onto the court shortly after 6:30 p.m., only about 300 people remained. And three dozen of them — members of the Seawolves’ pep band and dance team — initiated a “Let’s go, Seawolves!