Kentucky basketball to hit the road for Blue-White Game for second year in a row.
The annual Kentucky men’s basketball Blue-White Game will be hitting the road for the second consecutive year.
UK announced Wednesday that the Wildcats will play their preseason scrimmage at Northern Kentucky University’s Truist Arena in Highland Heights on Oct. 21, another departure from the traditional location of Lexington.
The game will tip off at 6 p.m. and be televised online only on SEC Network Plus. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. at Truist Arena, which can hold up to 10,000 spectators.
Tickets were to go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday. Prices range from $10-$25 and will be available online through Ticketmaster.com or in person at the Truist Arena box office. Tickets cannot be bought through the UK Ticket Office.
Last year, the Cats moved their Blue-White Game to the Appalachian Wireless Arena in Pikeville, a late change of plans made by the program following the catastrophic flooding in Eastern Kentucky.
On that day, Kentucky’s players, coaches and staff visited with flood victims at multiple stops in Floyd County before heading to Pikeville, where more than 7.000 fans gathered to watch the team participate in the preseason scrimmage. At the event, the UK team presented Gov. Andy Beshear with a check for $162,450, with those proceeds going to Beshear’s Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief fund.
Ticket revenue from this year’s game will benefit the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund and the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund.
Calipari said in the weeks leading up to last year’s Blue-White Game that the idea to move the game to Eastern Kentucky and meet with local flood victims was a “player-driven” decision.
“It’s incredible. It’s heartwarming,” Beshear told the Herald-Leader that night. “These are players who chose to do this. Who chose to use their Blue-White Game to raise money for flood victims. Who stopped by Jenny Wiley Park and saw hundreds of displaced individuals today. Kentuckians love their Cats, but these Wildcats showed us that they love Kentuckians. It’s really amazing.”
Kentucky’s preseason tips off with the annual Big Blue Madness event set for Friday night in Rupp Arena. There was no campout in the lead-up to Madness this year due to the ongoing renovation of Memorial Coliseum, the traditional camping location. Big Blue Madness tickets were made available via Ticketmaster.com on Sept. 29, and all of those seats were gone after just 38 minutes.
The Wildcats’ regular-season opener against New Mexico State is scheduled for Nov. 6 in Rupp Arena.
This story was originally published October 11, 2023 at 2:40 PM.
