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Kentucky vs. Kansas: TV/Streaming Info, Keys to the Game, and Predictions

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The Kentucky Wildcats will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the State Farm Champions Classic.
UK Athletics

After playing a number of exhibition games and the first two games of the regular season against questionable competition, the Kentucky Wildcats will finally play a ranked opponent in the Champions Classic, albeit short-handed. It’s not just any ranked opponent, it is the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks.

Similar to Kentucky, Kansas returned four scholarship players from last season, however, three of those four players are starters. To fill their roster, the Jayhawks added four Top 100 recruits, highlighted by Top 20 guard Elmarko Jackson, and four transfers, including three ranked in 247Sports’ Top 50 transfers.

Kentucky retook the lead for all-time wins this summer (2377 to 2370) thanks to the NCAA’s investigation into Kansas. Can they increase that gap by one more game? Let’s take a look at the anticipated matchup.

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Transition Defense

This Kentucky team has the personnel to be one of the best transition offense teams that John Calipari has coached. However, their transition defense will be tested against Kansas.

In their first two games of the season, the Jayhawks have put up back-to-back 99-point scoring performances, in large part due to their ability to play fast. Both of these games have been against sub-300 KenPom teams though, allowing Kansas to dominate with their athleticism. However, that athleticism gap won’t be there against Kentucky.

The best defense for the Wildcats is not to make mistakes. Even with a freshmen team, Kentucky has only turned the ball over nine times through two games this season, the second-best mark in the country. Kansas has also often turned long rebounds and blocked shots into runouts, so it will be key to sprint back.

KU’s half-court offense hasn’t looked great early. If Kentucky can limit transition opportunities and force them to score in the half-court, the Wildcats have the offensive firepower to match and maybe even win.

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Force Hunter Dickinson to Beat You

Kentucky’s lack of size and Hunter Dickinson is the biggest story of this game. Dickinson is one of the best big men in the country and he is going to be a handful. However, he has not been a player that can carry a team to win. Case in point, Michigan has barely gone over .500 in the last two seasons with Dickinson as the star. He is also a player who can get into his own head at times (i.e. against UNC and Penn State last season, Illinois exhibition).

That said, Bill Self is one of the best X and O coaches in college basketball and will put Dickinson in better positions to succeed, attacking Kentucky’s lack of size. It is best to assume that he will get his 20 and 10.

Dickinson is the only player with a 2+ inch size advantage, that plays significant minutes. Kentucky’s defense, especially on-ball pressure, has looked good given this point of the season. The Wildcats should look into a strategy that was used against them a lot with Oscar Tshiebwe the last two seasons, make the big man beat you.

A Good Performance Against a Top Opponent

Kentucky hasn’t won a game in the Champions Classic since 2019 when Tyrese Maxey went off for 26 points against Michigan State. Most realize that without a healthy roster, it is going to be a difficult task to take down the No. 1 team in the country.

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However, given the talent of this Kentucky roster, it should still be a competitive game. If the young Wildcats can push Kansas in their first real contest of the season, with three big pieces of the roster, that will still provide some confidence going forward.

No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats vs. No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks

  • Time/Date: 9 PM ET on Tuesday, November 14th, 2023
  • Location: United Center in Chicago, Illinois
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Online Stream: WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
  • Announcers: Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, and Holly Rowe
  • Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the UK radio network call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
  • Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).
  • Rosters: UK | KU
  • Stats to Know: UK | KU
  • Odds: DraftKings Sportsbook has yet to release its spread for the matchup, but we will update this article as soon as they do. ESPN’s matchup predictor has the Wildcats as a decent underdog at 25.4%, giving them a 1 in 4 shot at the win. Bart Torvik has a little more confidence in the Cats, giving them a 34% chance.
  • PredictionsBart Torvik picks the Wildcats to lose in a close one 75-71. While Haslametrics is going with a 79-69 victory for the Jayhawks!

Also published on a Sea of Blue.

Men's Basketball

RECAP: Kentucky’s 123-52 Blowout Win Over Kentucky Wesleyan

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Check out a game recap from Kentucky's 123-52 win over Kentucky Wesleyan in Mark Pope's first exhibition game with stats and analysis.
Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Going into Kentucky’s first exhibition of the preseason, many were unsure what the new era of Kentucky Basketball would look like. Matching up against the D-ll Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers, the Wildcats looked mightily impressive in a 123-52 win.

Out of the gate, Kentucky opened up strong, building a 22-6 lead in the first eight minutes of action. Jaxson Robinson put up 13 points in the first half, displaying his familiarity with Pope’s system. Lamont Butler defended at an elite level, creating 4 steals in 16 minutes of play in the first half. Kentucky Wesleyan had no match for Otega Oweh who helped boost the scoring with 11 first-half points.

Kentucky finished with 60 first-half points on 62% shooting from the field and made 8 of their 20 three-point field goal attempts coming out to 40% from behind the arc in an offensive explosion in the first half. The Cats took the Panthers into the breakup 60-24.

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Mark Pope’s squad wasted no time in the second half, as they continued to pile on the points. It was the expected supporting pieces performing so well.

Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Ansley Almonor went 3 of 3 from behind the arc in the second half. However, it wasn’t Almonor who took the crowd by storm, rather it was Harlan native Freshman Trent Noah.

Checking in at the under-12 timeout, Noah went on to make four three-point field goals in just a little over nine minutes. Scoring all of his 12 points in the second half, he led the Wildcats in scoring in the half, and he walked off the court to a loud ovation from the fans inside Rupp. However, it wasn’t just the fans, it was the bench as well. “Kerr (Kriisa), I thought he was going to start ripping his clothes off he was so excited,” Pope said after the game.

Overall, the Cats’ 71-point victory is the third-largest exhibition win in program history. The way they did it made it look even better, shooting the ball incredibly well and great ball movement. Shooting 21/42 (50%) from three, Pope made good on his word to shoot 35-plus threes. All eleven players scored, and ten recorded at least one assist.

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Keys of the Game

During his post-game comments, Mark Pope mentioned a couple of keys that helped Kentucky win the game so convincingly.

The first was Lamont Butler who had six steals, which outnumbered the total turnovers by the team (5). “I have never seen that before,” Pope said after looking at the box score.

The great assist-to-turnover margin was also something Pope was notably proud of. 32 assists to just 5 turnovers, a 6.4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Pope also mentioned Otega Oweh’s ability to create in the lane for himself and his teammates which opened the court for more scoring opportunities for the Cats.

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Pope was excited for what is next for his team and their togetherness that could lead them to the promised land. This Kentucky team has the ability to exceed expectations this season if they continue to improve on the solid effort they put on display tonight.

Box Score

Highlights

When do the Cats get back to Action?

Kentucky will hit the floor next week for their second and last exhibition game. They will face Minnesota State Mankato, a defending National Champion on the D-ll level who has made a name for themselves under coach Matt Margenthaler. The game is on October 29th at Rupp Arena and will be at 7 PM, fans can find the game on SEC NETWORK+.

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Men's Basketball

Reed Sheppard Picked By NBA GMs To Win Rookie Of The Year, Be Top Player in Five Seasons

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NBA rookie Reed Sheppard was voted by NBA GMs to win the 2025 Rookie of the Year, and to the best player from the 2025 draft in five years.
Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

With the NBA season right around the corner, the annual general manager survey was recently released, giving insights into how league GMs think the season will play out.

Among dozens of questions, they were asked who will win the Rookie of the Year award. Fifty percent of them picked Kentucky’s own Reed Sheppard. To put that number in perspective, last year’s survey picked Victor Wembanyama by a margin of 50% as well.

Also voted on was which rookie would be the best player in five years. Again, Sheppard took this category with 43% of the votes.

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It isn’t hard to see why NBA executives are high on Sheppard after his summer league performance. He averaged 20.0 points, 5.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 50% from the floor over his four-game span. That stat line was enough to garner All-Summer League First Team honors.

Winning individual honors won’t be something new for Sheppard. At Kentucky, he joined John Wall, and Anthony Davis as Freshman of the Year recipients. Sheppard was selected as the National Freshman of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, and 2nd team All-SEC by both the Associated Press and the league itself.

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Men's Basketball

Mark Pope Talks about Kentucky-Louisville Rivalry, Wife Lee Anne Throws Funny Jab at Louisville

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Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope talks about rivalry with Louisville, wife Lee Anne throws a funny jab.
Jordan Prather | Imagn Images

Before Mark Pope became the head coach of Kentucky, he was a proud alum and fan. As he married his wife, Lee Anne, and began to raise his three young daughters, those experiences and that fandom were passed on, including the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry.

During the 2024 Wildcat Tipoff Luncheon in Lousiville on Monday, the first lady of Kentucky basketball threw a funny jab at the school down the road after being asked about the rivalry.

“We have a mole in our backyard that we’re trying to kill,” Mrs. Pope said. “We’ve nicknamed it ‘The Cardinal.’”

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“Would you like to add to that?” she asked her husband.

“I’ll just verify that is a true story,” Mark joked. “If you’ve ever had a mole in your backyard, it’s tearing up your shrubs and ruining the grass, dirt everywhere. It’s driving us crazy. So it’s aptly named.”

Following the crowd’s laughter, the well-spoken coach gave his true thoughts on Kentucky’s rivalry with Louisville, as well as other rivalries such as Indiana, which is set to resume next season.

“I love the rivalry. I actually love it,” Pope said. Rivalries are what make college sports great. The great Pete Carroll, who I’ve had the chance to spend some time with through a third party, he talks about how much you love the competitors that drive you every day toward greatness. Rivalries do that, certainly, our rivalries with Indiana and Louisville that have been here forever, are really important to Kentucky basketball.”

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December 14th can’t come fast enough.

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