First Scouting Report: Kentucky will seek to deny Marshall a streak-busting upset

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

The opponent

No. 16 Kentucky (4-1) will face Marshall (2-3) on Friday, Nov. 24, at Rupp Arena (capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington.

The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and be broadcast on the SEC Network.

Marshall defeated Florida International 80-69 Monday in the Cayman Island Classic behind 18 points from Kevon Voyles but fell to Oakland, 78-71, on Tuesday in the same event.

Series history

Kentucky’s leads the all-time series with Marshall 12-0.

UK head man John Calipari is 1-0 as Wildcats coach versus Marshall.

Thundering Herd coach Dan D’Antoni will coach against Kentucky for the first time as a head man.

Most recent meeting

Ryan Harrow scored 23 points, grabbed four rebounds, doled out four assists and made three steals to lead Kentucky to an 82-54 victory over Marshall before 24,271 fans at Rupp Arena on Dec. 22, 2012.

Know your foe

1. At the ripe young age of 76, Dan D’Antoni — older brother of 72-year-old, former NBA head man Mike D’Antoni — is still going strong on the Marshall sideline as Thundering Herd head man.

Just last season, D’Antoni coached Marshall (24-8) to a school record for regular-season victories. It was a bounce-back year for D’Antoni, whose team had gone 12-21 in 2021-22.

D’Antoni’s preferred style of play is frenetic— the Herd averaged 81.8 points a game last season.

2. The transfer portal hit Marshall hard after last season. Micah Handlogten, a 7-foot-1 center who averaged 7.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks a game last year, transferred to Florida.

Point guard Andrew Taylor, the former Corbin High School star who averaged 20.2 points and 4.2 assists in 2022-23, transferred to Mississippi State.

3. Through this season’s first three games, Marshall had yet to find its offensive groove. The Thundering Herd entered Monday’s game with FIU averaging “only” 70.3 points a game and making only 25.4% of their 3-point tries.

Kevon Voyles, a 6-3 grad transfer from Maryland-Eastern Shore, was leading the Herd in scoring, averaging 14.3 points as well as 2.7 steals.

Outside marksman Kamdyn Curfman, a 6-1, 190-pound senior who began his college career at VMI, was averaging 13.7 points going into Monday’s game while making 40.9% of his 3-point tries.

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