At long last, Kentucky basketball season is finally here. No more summer workouts, preseason events or exhibition matchups. The real stuff begins tonight to tip off the Mark Pope era in Lexington. The Wildcats will take on the Wright State Raiders of the Horizon League inside Rupp Arena, the season opener for both teams — along with everyone else in college basketball.
What do you need to know about the head-to-head battle? How can you follow along in person, on television and/or online? KSR’s got you covered.
How To Watch
No. 23 Kentucky vs. Wright State
7 p.m. ET | Monday, Nov. 4 | Rupp Arena
- Television: ESPNU (Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes)
- Streaming: WatchESPN
- Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
- Online Radio: iHeart
- Satellite Radio: Sirius 383
- Live Stats: StatBroadcast
You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tipoff, or join the conversation on KSBoard.
Exhibition Rewind
Kentucky: KenPom 43
- 10/23: 123-52 W vs. Kentucky Wesleyan
- 10/29: 98-67 W vs. Minnesota State
Wright State: KenPom 198
- 10/26: 108-59 W vs. Wilmington (OH)
Series History
Kentucky leads the all-time series vs. Wright State 4-0 including a 3-0 record in Lexington. The Wildcats most recently took on the Raiders in 2015 — a 78-63 victory inside Rupp Arena, with previous wins in 1998 (97-75), 1996 (90-62) and 1992 (81-65).
Interestingly enough, Keion Brooks Sr. holds the series record for most points and field goals scored in a single game, the father of the former Wildcat going for 27 points on 11 made shots for Wright State in that 1998 matchup.
Kentucky at Vanderbilt Odds via Circa Sports
Spread: Kentucky -20.5
Total: 161
Kentucky Projected Starters
(Starting lineup based on the last game)
#1 – Lamont Butler
6-2 – 208 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
9.3 PPG, 3.0 APG, 1.5 SPG*
#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – JUNIOR
11.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.5 SPG*
#2 – Jaxson Robinson
6-6 – 192 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
14.2 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.3 APG*
#7 – Andrew Carr
6-11 – 235 – FORWARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
13.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.5 BPG*
#22 – Amari Williams
7-0 – 262 – CENTER – GRADUATE STUDENT
12.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.8 BPG*
Stats from 2023-24 season*
Wright State Projected Starters
(Starting lineup based on the last game)
#3 – Alex Huibregtse
6-3 – 205 – GUARD – REDSHIRT SENIOR
12.3 PPG (41.7% 3PT), 3.8 RPG, 3.3 APG*
#4 – Keaton Norris
6-0 – 175 – GUARD – REDSHIRT JUNIOR
3.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.5 APG**
#21 – Logan Woods
6-5 – 185 – GUARD – REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE
2.3 PPG, 1.2 RPG*
#33 – Michael Imariagbe
6-7 – 220 – FORWARD – REDSHIRT SENIOR
11.4 PPG, 8.5 RPG*
#14 – Brandon Noel
6-8 – 240 – FORWARD – REDSHIRT JUNIOR
14.5 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.5 APG*
Stats from 2023-24 season*
Stats from 2022-23 season**
Statistical Comparison
(via Kentucky’s game notes, based on 2023-24 season statistics)
Fun stats from UK’s game notes:
- Kentucky has 586 combined career collegiate starts and four players with 1,000 or more career points, the most experienced team in program history
- Not a single player has suited up for the Wildcats before
- UK is slated to play 13 teams who reached the 2024 NCAA Tournament a total of 15 times — including five Sweet 16 teams
Pregame Storylines
MARK POPE LOOKS FOR FIRST WIN AT KENTUCKY
He’s picked up exhibition wins vs. Kentucky Wesleyan and Minnesota State, but the wait continues for his first dent in the official record book — as a head coach, at least. Pope enters the matchup with a 187-108 career record following stints at Utah Valley and BYU. Wright State marks the first official game for the captain of the 1996 national championship team as the coach of Kentucky.
Meanwhile, Clint Sargent will be making his head coaching debut for the Raiders after serving as associate head coach the last three seasons and joining the staff in 2016. During his time at Wright State, the program has won a combined five Horizon League championships with NCAA Tournament appearances in 2018 and 2022.
AN EXPERIENCED WRIGHT STATE TEAM
The Raiders are returning eight letterwinners off their 2023-24 roster, headlined by key starters Alex Huibregtse and Brandon Noel who both averaged over 33 minutes played per game and 12-plus points per contest. The latter was named Horizon League Freshman of the Year after averaging 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds on 53.5 percent shooting while the former averaged 12.3 points and 3.8 rebounds on 41.7 percent from deep.
Wright State finished last season ranked fourth nationally in scoring at 86.5 PPG, first in field goal percentage at 53.0 percent and ninth in 3-point field goal percentage at 38.3 percent.
WILL AMARI WILLIAMS PLAY?
Right as Kentucky got Kerr Kriisa back from injury, it lost starting center Amari Williams — at least temporarily. Dealing with a leg issue, Pope said the Drexel transfer was “day-to-day” and the program was “hopeful he’ll be back soon” but will “kinda proceed with all the caution and urgency that we possibly can.” Brandon Garrison stepped up in his absence in the Minnesota State win with 12 points and four rebounds. Will the Wildcats need him to anchor the frontcourt once again in the opener?
GIVE ME THE POINTS!
On paper, it’s a matchup of two top-four scoring teams, two top-six teams in efficiency and two top-ten teams in shooting from a year ago. The Wildcats and Raiders flat-out filled it up in 2023-24, widely considered two of the best offenses in college basketball. Thing is, this Kentucky roster doesn’t have a single player returning from that roster and Wright State lost its top two leading scorers. Their identities, however, remain similar with scoring coming fast and furious — hence the 329 combined points in three exhibition games between the two teams and the over/under set at 161 points in this one.
Don’t expect a rock fight inside Rupp Arena to get the Mark Pope era rolling.
NO. 346 IN SCORING DEFENSE
As productive and efficient both offenses were last season, they were equally terrible on the defense end of the floor. Kentucky finished ranked No. 334 nationally while Wright State was even worse at No. 346, allowing 81.2 points per game. Same rules apply in terms of returning talent — none for the Wildcats, several for the Raiders. Pope’s player-friendly system that pushes for 35 3-point attempts per contest could mean trouble for Clint Sargent in his coaching debut for the Raiders, barring a massive identity shift from a year ago.
Join The Discussion on KSBoard
Want to interact with the KSR crew during tonight’s game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates as your eyes and ears inside Rupp Arena while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).
New members can get KSR+ for seven days for just $1 and 50% off the annual price.
Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel
Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction live from outside Rupp Arena on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from Mark Pope and the players, stats, and takeaways.
