First Scouting Report: Gonzaga in Rupp Arena will give UK a shot at a Quad 1 win

A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:

The opponent

No. 17 Kentucky (16-6, 6-4 SEC) will face Gonzaga (16-6, 7-2 West Coast Conference) on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Rupp Arena (seating capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington.

The game will tip off at 4 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by CBS.

Before facing UK, coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs will play Portland on Wednesday night at 8 (EST) in a contest that will be telecast by the CBS Sports Network.

Series history

The all-time series between Kentucky and Gonzaga is tied 1-1.

As UK head man, John Calipari is 0-1 vs. the Bulldogs.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few is 1-1 vs. Kentucky.

Most recent meeting

Rasir Bolton had 24 points, Drew Timme added 22 points and Julian Strawther had a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds, to lead No. 2 Gonzaga to an 88-72 pasting of No. 4 Kentucky on Nov. 20, 2022, at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington.

Oscar Tshiebwe led UK with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Gonzaga put the game away early, sprinting to a 41-25 halftime lead.

Power rankings

In the Pomeroy Ratings, Gonzaga is No. 21 and Kentucky is No. 27.

The NCAA NET rankings have Gonzaga No. 26, Kentucky No. 27.

Know your foe

1. Gonzaga is 3-3 this season against teams from power conferences (the football Power Five plus the Big East). The Bulldogs have losses to Purdue (73-63) and Connecticut (76-63) on neutral courts and also fell at Washington (78-73).

The wins over major conference foes have all came on neutral floors over Syracuse (76-57), UCLA (69-65) and Southern California (89-76).

Gonzaga is 3-2 in true road games.

2. Of Gonzaga’s top four scorers, two came from the transfer portal. Former Wyoming Cowboys big man Graham Ike, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound wide-body, leads the Zags in scoring at 15.3 points a game. Ike is also averaging 7.3 rebounds and making 60.4% of his field goal attempts.

Former Creighton guard Ryan Nembhard, a 6-foot, 175-pound junior, is averaging 12.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and has doled out 127 assists versus only 50 turnovers. Nembhard has not shot well from the perimeter, as he is making only 29.4% on 3-point tries.

3. As a junior, former Kentucky signee Nolan Hickman is having his best season to date for Gonzaga. The 6-2, 183-pound Seattle product is averaging a career-high 13 points a game and has 56 assists versus 36 turnovers. Hickman is making 44.2% of his shots, 36.7 on 3-point attempts and 82.9% of his free throws.

After signing with UK as part of its 2021 recruiting class, Hickman had a change of heart.

“I got nothing but all love for BBN … Coach Cal … and the entire Kentucky coaching staff,” Hickman wrote on Instagram at the time of his parting with UK. “Thank you.”

In Gonzaga’s win over Kentucky last season, Hickman had four points, two assists, a steal and two turnovers.

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