UK Men's Basketball Set for Blue-White Game on Friday

In another marker that the 2019-20 Kentucky men’s basketball season is here, the Wildcats will hold their annual Blue-White Game on Friday night at Rupp Arena.

Although fans got to see a brief scrimmage at last week’s Big Blue Madness, fans will have the opportunity to see the team in an intrasquad scrimmage that will more closely resemble what Big Blue Nation will see in the regular season. 

The Wildcats will split up into two squads – Blue and White – and go head to head Friday at 7 p.m. in Rupp Arena. The game will be televised live on the SEC Network with Mike Morgan and Seth Greenberg on the call. Darren Headrick and UK Athletics Hall of Famer Mike Pratt will be on the radio on the UK Sports Network. 

Friday’s Blue-White Game will tip off the exhibition season for the Wildcats before their highly-anticipated regular-season opener vs. Michigan State on Nov. 5 in the State Farm Champions Classic in New York. Prior to the opener, UK will also play Georgetown College on Oct. 27 and Kentucky State on Nov. 1 in its exhibition games.

Tickets for the Blue-White Game are still available through Ticketmaster.com or through the Ticketmaster app. Ticket prices will range from $5 to $25. All seating is reserved.

UK students may claim up to two free reserved tickets for the Blue-White Game, while supplies last. Student tickets may be claimed in person at the Joe Craft Center ticket office with a valid UK student ID.

The last three Blue-White matchups have seen the largest attendances in the game’s history. Last year’s crowd reached 15,377. The 2016 crowd of 16,089 is the highest. 

Earlier this week, the Wildcats were picked by the league’s media to win the 2019 Southeastern Conference championship for a 49th time. It would mark UK’s sixth regular-season title under John Calipari if the Wildcats can match those expectations.

In addition to the preseason team pick, sophomore guard Ashton Hagans was named to the preseason All-SEC First Team and sophomore forward EJ Montgomery and freshman guard Tyrese Maxey were tabbed to the preseason All-SEC Second Team. 
 

The trio, plus freshman forward Kahlil Whitney, were all named to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame positional award watch lists earlier this week.
 
Kentucky finished 30-7 last season, falling to Auburn in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats lost three players (Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson and PJ Washington) to the NBA Draft after last season, plus graduate transfer Reid Travis, but are expected to be a Final Four contender yet again with a solid blend of talent and experience. 

Hagans (7.7 points per game and 160 total assists in 2018-19), sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley (30 3-pointers), junior forward Nick Richards (74 career games), and Montgomery (3.8 points, 4.1 rebounds in 2018-19) will join another top-ranked recruiting class that features six freshmen and graduate transfer Nate Sestina.

Herro led last year’s Blue-White Game with a game-high 34 points and four 3-pointers. Travis posted a double-double with 27 points and 13 rebounds and Washington scored 23. Among UK’s returners, Richards recorded a double-double with 16 points and 16 boards and Montgomery went for 21 points and eight rebounds.

Terrence Jones (2011-12) owns the Blue-White Game scoring record with 52 points in the 2011 edition.

Friday will mark the 12th time the scrimmage will be held in Rupp Arena.

Tipoff will be at approximately 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on the SEC Network and heard on the UK Sports Network.