Kentucky basketball exhibition games are set. UK will tune up for 2023-24 vs. two locals.
The Kentucky men’s basketball team has selected a couple of familiar foes to prepare for the 2023-24 season.
UK will play its two exhibition games against Georgetown College on Oct. 27 and Kentucky State on Nov. 2, the school announced Monday morning. These two contests will mark the Wildcats’ final preseason prep before the official opener Nov. 6 against New Mexico State in Rupp Arena.
Both exhibition games will also be in Rupp, and neither opponent is a stranger to the venue.
Georgetown has been on UK’s preseason schedule three previous times since 2005, including twice during the John Calipari era, most recently in 2019.
The Tigers are coached by Chris Briggs, who has two degrees from UK and worked with the Wildcats as a student manager and later a graduate assistant during his time on campus from 2001-06, when Tubby Smith was Kentucky’s coach.
Briggs has been the head coach at Georgetown since 2011 and has led the Tigers to two NAIA national championships in 2013 and 2019, earning national coach of the year honors after both of those seasons.
Georgetown had a 30-6 record last season, losing in the semifinals of the NAIA national tournament. The Tigers’ projected roster for the 2023-24 season features 12 players from Kentucky high schools.
This will be the fourth time during Calipari’s tenure that UK will host Kentucky State for an exhibition game in Rupp Arena, the fifth meeting all-time between the two programs, and the second consecutive year in which the teams will play each other.
Kentucky defeated KSU 111-53 last season, with returning UK guard Antonio Reeves scoring a game-high 23 points in that matchup. UK also hosted the Thorobreds in 2019, 2015 and 2001.
Coach Jamaal Jackson is entering his eighth season in charge of the KSU program, which had a 15-13 overall record last season. The Thorobreds led the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in both scoring (80.0 points per game) and 3-pointers (238 makes in 28 games) last season. They lost in the semifinals of the SIAC Tournament.
Jackson has two degrees from KSU and served as a student assistant for the Thorobreds, later becoming a KSU assistant coach and eventually returning to the school as the head coach.
The Kentucky-KSU matchup will be recognized as UK’s “Unity Series” game for the 2023-24 season. The series began two years ago to raise awareness of the missions of historically black colleges and universities and has been used to raise funds to provide opportunities for students at those institutions.
The first two Unity Series games occurred during the regular season, with Kentucky facing Southern in 2021 and Florida A&M in 2022, and the Wildcats and their opponents have engaged in joint trips to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Museum in Cincinnati, as well as other activities involving both teams.
Like last season, the game against KSU will mark UK’s final tuneup for the regular season.
The Wildcats will tip off the 2023-24 preseason schedule with Big Blue Madness on Oct. 13 in Rupp Arena. The game times and television designations for the two exhibitions will be announced at a later date.
Kentucky’s 2023-24 basketball schedule
Home games in all capital letters
Fri., Oct. 27: GEORGETOWN COLLEGE-x
Thu., Nov. 2: KENTUCKY STATE-x
Mon., Nov. 6: NEW MEXICO STATE
Fri., Nov. 10: TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE-1
Tues., Nov. 14: Kansas, (ESPN)-2
Fri., Nov. 17: STONEHILL-1
Mon., Nov. 20: SAINT JOSEPH’S-1
Fri., Nov. 24: MARSHALL
Tues., Nov. 28: MIAMI (FLA.), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN), 3
Sat., Dec. 2: UNC WILMINGTON
Sat., Dec. 9: Penn, Noon (ESPN2) -4
Sat., Dec. 16: North Carolina, 5:30 p.m. (CBS)-5
Thurs., Dec. 21: At Louisville
Fri., Dec. 29: ILLINOIS STATE
Sat., Jan. 6: At Florida
Tues., Jan. 9: MISSOURI
Sat., Jan. 13: At Texas A&M
Wed., Jan. 17: MISSISSIPPI STATE
Sat., Jan. 20: GEORGIA
Tues., Jan. 23: At South Carolina
Sat., Jan. 27: At Arkansas
Wed., Jan. 31: FLORIDA
Sat., Feb. 3: TENNESSEE
Tues., Feb. 6: At Vanderbilt
Sat., Feb. 10: GONZAGA
Tues., Feb. 13: OLE MISS
Sat., Feb. 17: At Auburn
Wed., Feb. 21: At LSU
Sat., Feb. 24: ALABAMA
Tues., Feb. 27: At Mississippi State
Sat., March 2: ARKANSAS
Wed., March 6: VANDERBILT
Sat., March 9: At Tennessee
x-Exhibition game; 1-Wildcat Challenge at Rupp Arena; 2-Champions Classic at United Center in Chicago; 3-ACC-SEC Challenge; 4-At the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia; 5-CBS Sports Classic at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
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