First Scouting Report: Against UNCW, Kentucky to face a coach who previously beat the Cats
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 12 Kentucky (6-1) will face UNC Wilmington (5-1) on Saturday, Dec. 2, at Rupp Arena (capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington.
The game will tip off at 4 p.m. (EST) and be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Before traveling to Lexington, UNC Wilmington will play at East Carolina at 7 p.m. (EST) Thursday.
Series history
This will be the first men’s basketball meeting between Kentucky and UNC Wilmington.
Power rankings
In the Pomeroy Ratings, Kentucky is No. 17 and UNC Wilmington is No. 138.
The CBS Sports approximation of the NCAA NET rankings has Kentucky No. 27, UNC Wilmington No. 141.
Know your foe
1. UNC Wilmington coach Takayo Siddle was a junior guard on the 2007-08 Gardner-Webb team that delivered a stunning 84-68 upset of Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Nov. 7, 2008, in Billy Gillispie’s second game as UK head man.
A 5-foot-11 product of Eden, North Carolina, Siddle scored eight points and doled out three assists in the win over a Kentucky team that included Ramel Bradley, Joe Crawford, Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson.
As a coach, Siddle is in his fourth season as head man at UNC Wilmington and is 63-30.
In 2021-22, Siddle coached the Seahawks to a 27-9 mark and the regular-season championship of the Coastal Athletic Association (nee Colonial Athletic Association). Last year, Siddle led UNCW to a 24-10 mark.
2. UNC Wilmington already has a victory this season over a team from Kentucky. The Seahawks scored an 83-81 overtime win over Murray State on Nov. 20 in the Fort Myers Tipoff in Florida.
Maleeck Harden-Hayes led the Seahawks with 23 points and seven rebounds, Shykeim Phillips added 19 points and three assists and Trazarien White came off the bench to score 18 points and grab three rebounds to lead UNCW past Steve Prohm’s Racers.
3. A 6-7, 190-pound junior, Trazarien White leads UNC Wilmington in scoring with an average of 18.8 points a game. The product of Mansfield, Texas, is also averaging 5.2 rebounds.
A 6-2, 190-pound super-senior, Shykeim Phillips is averaging 13.0 points and has 17 assists vs. only seven turnovers.
Maleeck Harden Hayes, a 6-7, 200-pound super-senior who transferred from North Dakota State, is averaging 12.7 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds.
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