Kentucky basketball finally has its season opener. Here’s the latest on UK’s schedule.
The full Kentucky men’s basketball schedule for the 2022-23 season has yet to be revealed, but it’s now known when the Wildcats will play their first real game of the campaign.
UK has announced that it will begin the regular season with a game against Howard University on Nov. 7 in Rupp Arena. Tip time is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.
Howard finished 16-13 overall and 9-5 in the MEAC last season, good enough for second place in the league. This will be the first meeting between the Wildcats and the Bison.
The UK-Howard game will take place eight days before the Wildcats face what is expected to be their first major test of the 2022-23 season — a Champions Classic matchup with Michigan State in Indianapolis. The Herald-Leader has also been told that Kentucky is expected to play one additional regular-season game before the date with Michigan State on Nov. 15.
The Champions Classic has typically been the Wildcats’ regular-season opener over the past few seasons, but it was bumped a week later on the calendar this year so as not to conflict with Election Day on Nov. 8.
The announcement of the Howard game brings UK one step closer to announcing its full schedule for the season. The only regular-season games that have not been officially announced are now the three opponents Kentucky will face in its multi-team event (MTE), along with the much anticipated trip to Gonzaga, which could start the season with the No. 1 ranking.
All three MTE games will take place early in the season in Rupp Arena. The Gonzaga game is expected to be played Nov. 20 in Spokane Arena, but the final details are still being worked out, and that matchup has not been officially posted by either school.
An announcement on the MTE games and the Gonzaga road trip is expected soon, with Big Blue Madness now less than three weeks away.
UK has also not revealed the opponents for its two exhibition games, though details on the program’s annual Blue-White Scrimmage were released Monday. The scrimmage will be played in Pikeville on Oct. 22, with proceeds from the event going to the Eastern Kentucky flood relief efforts.
The Madness campout will take place this weekend, with the event scheduled for Oct. 14 in Rupp Arena.
ESPN announced tip times and TV assignments for the annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Tuesday, and Kentucky’s game in Rupp against defending national champion Kansas was given the prime-time 8 p.m. slot, with that matchup to be shown on ESPN.
This story was originally published September 27, 2022 at 1:23 PM.
