On Monday, July 20, La Familia traveled to Louisville, KY to take on The Ville in the historic Freedom Hall. With a 1-0 series lead, the Kentucky alumni had a game to give before returning home. Unfortunately for them, they fell by a score of 82-62 in a dominant showing from the Cardinals.

Heading into this matchup, there was yet again some drama with the injury report, as Willie Cauley-Stein was listed as questionable, Marcus Lee was listed as out and Archie Goodwin was marked to make his debut on Monday for the Wildcats.

However, as the day went on, TBT officially announced that Cauley-Stein will play but that Goodwin will not, sending Big Blue Nation into another frenzy of question marks. Nonetheless, no matter if it’s a Marquette alum balling out for you or if it’s the Wildcats’ own, the show must go on.

The majority of the first quarter showed a competitive ballgame, with La Familia holding an 11-9 lead at the media break. James Mainor-Bell banged in two threes to start the game, with Andrew Harrison joining in on the three party after an ankle breaker. The Ville was doing their best to play bully ball with Montrezl Harrell, but the Wildcats held him to only two points in his first quarter of action.

Harrell scored five straight for the Cardinals to start the second quarter, giving them their first lead of the game at the seven-minute mark. From then on, it would be complete and utter domination from the star forward, dropping 16 points in the quarter alone on perfect shooting.

Harrison, Chris Coffey and others did their best to stop the bleeding, but words cannot describe how quickly The Ville took control and did whatever they wanted on the court. La Familia only shot 8/30 from the field in the first half and nothing could go their way.

At the break, the alumni from the bluegrass trailed 36-22.

From poster dunks, lobs and threes, there was no idea of a comeback in any Kentucky fans’ heart, with The Ville having fun while they could in front of their fanbase.

Harrison and Coffey would combined for 34 points, but in response, Harrell finished the night with 35 points and eight rebounds to tie up the three-game series.

Up next, La Familia will host The Ville on Wednesday, July 22 for the third and final game of the series. The winner will take home the bragging rights and send their in-state rival on a one-way exit out of the TBT tournament. Tip is set for 6:00 p.m. ET and will air live on FS1.

*UPDATE (1:10 p.m. ET): Willie Cauley-Stein is ACTIVE but Archie Goodwin has been downgraded to UNACTIVE per TBT Stats & Info. A reason has not been revealed publicly.

There’s nothing like some evening basketball in the middle of the summer, and that’s exactly what we’re getting later tonight with La Familia’s matchup with The Ville. Tipoff for game two is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET inside of Freedom Hall, with the Kentucky alumni looking to take care of business on the road.

Doing so, will be difficult. We all saw what playing in enemy territory can do to a team – Louisville experienced it on Saturday and went down by as much as 15 points in the third quarter. Given the away atmosphere, the desperation from the Cardinals and unfortunately, some injury news, we’re in for an interesting one.

Game two’s official injury report has Marcus Lee, who missed game one with the team, listed as OUT for tonight’s matchup. He was originally believed to make his debut on Monday, but it seems it may be the next series where Lee will make an appearance. Willie Cauley-Stein, after tweaking his ankle in La Familia’s first game, is listed as questionable, making Kentucky’s size a thing to question.

Don’t worry though Big Blue Nation, because KY Insider brings good news with the bad. Archie Goodwin, who was a major part of the team’s scoring last summer, will be making his debut on July 20. Sources confirmed that he was attending a wedding on Saturday and couldn’t make the season opener.

The Ville will also be without two key players who missed game one, Ray Spalding and Angel Nunez. The full injury report can be seen below.

La Familia

• Archie Goodwin – AVAILABLE
• Willie Cauley-Stein – QUESTIONABLE
• Marcus Lee – OUT

The Ville

• Ray Spalding – OUT
• Angel Nunez – OUT

Last offseason, Kentucky was considered a top-10 team and a true title contender, but ended the season as one of the most disappointing teams in the country, winning just one game in the NCAA Tournament.

This offseason, Kentucky is barely cracking the top 15 in most preseason rankings and will look to climb the rankings throughout the season rather than fall.

Still 120+ days out from the start of the regular season, ESPN and CBS Sports have updated their “way-too-early” rankings following Dusty May’s jump from Michigan to the NBA, more player additions for teams, and some early-season-ending injuries.

The rankings remain fairly static, however, with the Wildcats holding steady in ESPN’s rankings while moving ahead of St. John’s in CBS Sports’ rankings following Donnie Freeman’s Achilles injury.

ESPN

17. Kentucky Wildcats

Previous ranking: 17 (no change)

Impact newcomer: Milan Momcilovic

Momcilovic was the best transfer in the portal, after a season in which he established himself as the best shooter in college basketball. The 6-8 forward withdrew from the NBA draft on the night of the deadline, committing to coach Mark Pope’s team a few days later after also being pursued by Louisville and Arizona. He’s immediately an All-America contender and the most dangerous player on the Wildcats’ roster, after averaging 16.9 points and shooting 48.7% from 3 last season.

Projected starting lineup

Zoom Diallo (15.7 PPG at Washington)
Alex Wilkins (17.8 PPG at Furman)
Milan Momcilovic (16.9 PPG at Iowa State)
Ousmane N’Diaye (9.8 PPG for Cremona in Serie A)
Malachi Moreno (7.8 PPG)

CBS Sports

16. Kentucky Wildcats

Previous ranking: 17 (⬆️1)

This ranking is based on the Wildcats returning one of the top six scorers — specifically Malachi Moreno — from a team that finished 22-14 and advanced to the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. That core will be joined by a recruiting class highlighted by Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic, Washington transfers Zoom Diallo and Franck Kepnang, Washington State transfer Jerone Morton, James Madison transfer Justin McBride, Providence transfer Alex Wilkins, four-star prospect Mason Williams and international prospect Ousmane N’Diaye.