Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Purdue
The Kentucky men’s basketball program has been playing exhibition games since at least 1935, when they faced the Bracken County Area All-Stars in Augusta. On Friday night at Rupp Arena, the Cats will play in perhaps the most anticipated exhibition game in program history.
Kentucky, ranked ninth in the preseason polls, welcomes top-ranked Purdue to Lexington in what should be a showcase of national championship contenders. Due to a new NCAA rule, Division I teams can now play each other in open exhibition games, and UK head coach Mark Pope immediately went for a marquee opponent.
“This is an incredibly important data collection moment for us and it’s unbelievable that we get to do this against this Purdue team and Matt (Painter). If he’s not the best coach in college basketball, he’s got to be right up there.”
Pope has mentioned how competitive this particular team is during his preseason media opportunities. When asked if he would be trying to win the game rather than experimenting with lineups, Pope’s answer was quick and direct.
“Yes. The answer is yes, especially with this group,” Pope said. “The group is just hard wired that way.”
Having said that, Pope knows that there will be a lot to be learned from Friday’s game. After practicing against each other for so long, the Cats finally get to play someone else. And it just happens to be the number one team in the country.
“For us, you get this chance to go get this really in depth look at who we are right now,” Pope said. “And so we’re going to take full advantage of that while doing everything we can to win, but still not leave anything on the table in terms of learning about ourselves.”
This is one of the most anticipated exhibition games in the history of Kentucky basketball. In 1982 and1987, the Cats faced the Soviet Union’s Olympic team during the Cold War Era. Those Soviet teams featured the likes of Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulonis, who both went on to play in the NBA.
Kentucky has won 33 consecutive exhibition games, including two last year in Pope’s first year. However, Friday’s game will be a much bigger challenge than anything UK has faced in exhibition action lately. That’s part of what makes this perhaps the most anticipated exhibition game in program history.
Kentucky in Exhibition Games
The Wildcats have historically been successful in exhibition contests. UK is 154-12 all-time in tune-up games, and currently are on a 33-game winning streak.
Kentucky is 2-0 in exhibition games under Mark Pope.
This marks the first time the team will play a Division I opponent in an exhibition game in the history of the program.
Although the contest will not count towards the regular-season record, here is a snapshot of the series with Purdue:
• The teams have not met since the 1997-98 season. That meeting was also a top-10 showdown
• The teams last two meetings came in the Great Eight in Chicago, meeting in back-to-back seasons
• UK owns a 6-2 all-time record against the Boilermakers, including a 2-1 mark in Lexington
• The teams have never met in postseason action
Celebrating the 50th Season of Kentucky Basketball in Rupp Arena
UK Athletics and Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center, proudly managed by Oak View Group, are excited to announce a season-long celebration marking the 50th season of Kentucky men’s basketball playing in one of the most iconic venues in college sports.
Since opening its doors in 1976, Rupp Arena has been home to countless unforgettable moments, including four NCAA Championship-winning teams, legendary players and generations of Big Blue Nation faithful.
The milestone season will honor that rich history with a series of in-venue celebrations, social media throwbacks and special broadcast programming through the UK Sports Network
Throughout the 2025–26 season, fans can expect a variety of tributes to the program’s storied history, including highlight reels, commemorative content and special recognitions during home games. The celebration will also spotlight the fans who have made Rupp Arena one of the most electric environments in all of sports.
Rupp Arena facts:
• Kentucky is 676-88 (88.5%) all-time in regular-season games
• First game played was a 72-64 win by No. 6 Kentucky over Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 27, 1976
• Rick Robey, a junior forward, scored the venue’s opening points
• Kentucky has gone undefeated in 14 seasons in the building’s history
• The Wildcats set a venue record with 19 single-season wins in 2014-15
• With a victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 7, 2019, Kentucky reached the 600-win mark at Rupp Arena faster than any other program in NCAA Division I level history. UK needed just 670 games to reach win No. 600 in Rupp Arena
• The Cats are 54-3 all-time as the AP No. 1 ranked team in Rupp Arena
• As an active UK player, Mark Pope’s teams went 25-1 (96.2%) inside of Rupp Arena. He is 15-3 as UK’s head coach
• The most points ever scored by Kentucky was 127 in a win over LSU on March 4, 1996
• Kentucky’s Derrick Miller (40) has the most points scored by a UK player on Feb. 7, 1990. Navy’s David Robinson has the individual scoring record (45) which he achieved on Jan. 25, 1987
• The record crowd was 24,479 on Jan. 2, 2010 in a 71-62 win over Louisville
• The longest UK winning streak was 54 games from Nov. 9, 2010 to Dec. 1, 2012
