Otega Oweh will lead Kentucky against No. 1 Purdue in an exhibition matchup on Oct. 24. (UK Athletics Photo)
Kentucky basketball fans got to watch coach Mark Pope’s team go through a practice at Tuesday’s Pro day and will get another look at Big Blue Madness on Friday. The next look will be the Blue-White Event on Oct. 17.
But the look Kentucky fans — and Pope — cannot wait for is the exhibition matchup with preseason No. 1 Purdue on Oct. 24 in Rupp Arena. That will be followed by a second exhibition game against Georgetown on Oct. 30.
“I think it’s fun for our fans. I think it’s elite for us. Not only do we get to play the preseason No. 1-ranked team in the country, and we get to do it before the season even starts, but they’re also a veteran, veteran, veteran team that functions probably better together than any team in the country,” Pope said Monday at UK’s Media Day about the matchup with Purdue.
Remember, before Pope’s first season, the Cats had exhibition games with Kentucky Wesleyan and Minnesota State. Going against Purdue and Georgetown certainly will have UK much better prepared for its showdown at Louisville, Nov. 11, after it opens regular season play with games against Nicholls and Valparaiso
“It’s going to test us before the season even starts in a really special way, and we need that. We need that. It gives us great data points to grow and figure things out, and challenge us. I love it. I’m really grateful,” Pope said about the exhibition games.
Purdue got to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2025 just like UK did. The Boilermakers return senior point guard Braden Smith, one of the favorites to be national player of the year, and All-American forward Trey Kaufman-Rena. Purdue ranked seventh nationally in offensive efficiency last season.
Pope believes Purdue coach Matt Painter is one of the nation’s best bench coaches — or maybe even the best.
“He’s proven that he can do it his way with the guys he does, and he’s established a really unique, relevant, incredible culture,” Pope said about Painter. “So the fact that we get to start that way, and then follow it up with (Georgetown coach) Ed Cooley, who is just an elite, elite, elite (coach). I can’t think of any better way to prepare to start the season than to get to face those two teams.”
Georgetown is not as highly rated as Purdue and was seventh in the Big East last season. The Hoyas finished 18-16 in Cooley’s second season.
“The one great thing about doing this (playing exhibition games) before the season starts is that you get all that time to reconstruct. It’s just gathering data. So right now we’re actually in practice trying to create those types of situations so we can learn our guys emotionally,” Pope said.
“If we were to beat Purdue by 30, I would be, like, ‘Wow.’ I would walk into practice and be, like, ‘What just happened?’ This Purdue team is great, right? They’re a marker of where we’re trying to get,” Pope said.
Pope couldn’t resist making another plea for a longer college basketball season at UK’s Media Day.
“You guys are going to hear me say this over and over again. Man, can we get to 41 (games schedule)?” Pope said. “I would like to get to 41 games now, but this, in a sense, lets us go from kind of 31 to kind of 33, and our added 33 is the No. 1 team in the country and a Georgetown team that’s going to be really, really good.”
4 Responses
I read last night that many people believe Purdue will be #1 pre-season. What a great test for a team with such high aspirations.
I love Pope's willingness to take on the best of the best, even in exhibition games. The point is showing competitiveness with the best of the best at this early moment. Lack of competitiveness early never bodes well for the end of the season.
Pope has the Pitino philosophy — fear no one
Larry, that is right on the mark. Didn't Joe Hall have a similar philosophy?
Scheduling Purdue and Georgetown as exhibition games was genius on Pope's part. Who knows what the outcomes will be, but who cares? They don't count! Matt Painter will have Purdue ready to play. They will definitely be looking to rip our hearts out, even in Rupp Arena. This will be the perfect warmup to playing Louisville in the Yum Center…and that game does count! So does Michigan State the week after who will be playing with a take no prisoners mentality. These 2 games will set the tone for the rest of the season. The 2 exhibition games will prove to be the most valuable in terms of having us prepared to play the tough non conference slate of games on our schedule. We will find out early if this team has the same potential that the 39-0 team did; I think it does. Look out America…Kentucky basketball is back! Go CATS!!!
Comments are closed.