Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Little Rock

The Kentucky men’s basketball team plays its first exhibition game of the 2026-27 season on Friday night when the Cats host Little Rock at Rupp Arena.

Kentucky went 22-14 last season and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Mark Pope built his roster for this season using a combination of returnees, high school recruits and, largely, additions from the transfer portal.

Perhaps the most important returnee is sophomore center Malachi Moreno. The Georgetown, Kentucky, native averaged 7.8 points and 6.3 rebounds last season. He tested the NBA waters but decided to return to UK for his second season.

Kam Williams is also back for the Cats after an injury-plagued season last year. Williams missed 12 games due to a foot injury. He averaged 6.0 points per game last season.

Trent Noah is also back for Kentucky. The Harlan, Kentucky, native played in 27 games last year, averaging 3.0 points per contest.

Braydon Hawthorne and Reece Potter also return for the Cats, although neither saw action last season.

Pope hit the transfer portal hard, adding six transfers who are expected to contribute this season. Zoom Diallo (Washington), Franck Kepnang (Washington), Justin McBride (James Madison), Milan Momcilovic (Iowa State), Jerone Morton (Washington State) and Alex Wilkins (Furman) made up the transfer class.

Kentucky added two freshmen in Zyon Hawthorne and Mason Williams, as well as international standout Ousmane N’Diaye.

Little Rock went 12-20 last season and made a coaching change in the offseason. Former UK standout Travis Ford is the new head coach for the Trojans and he has rebuilt Little Rock’s roster essentially from scratch ahead of his first season. Ford played at Kentucky from 1991-94, scoring 951 points in his UK career. He was the point guard on UK’s 1993 Final Four team.

Tipoff for Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.