‘Next guys up.’ Purdue coach impressed after UK basketball’s exhibition win
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky basketball beat Purdue, 78-65, in an exhibition game at Rupp Arena.
- Purdue is the top-ranked team in the preseason AP poll, while UK is No. 9.
- Kentucky will play Georgetown University in another exhibition game Thursday.
The top preseason team in college basketball came to Rupp Arena and took one on the chin Friday night.
Kentucky’s 78-63 home exhibition win over Purdue — the No. 1 team in this season’s preseason AP poll — was a comprehensive triumph by the Wildcats, who led for more than 37 of the game’s 40 minutes.
Despite being down three players — projected starting point guard Jaland Lowe, top transfer newcomer forward Jayden Quaintance and depth big man Reece Potter — Mark Pope’s team had its way with the Boilermakers.
UK shot better than 49% from the floor, outrebounded Purdue by 12 and forced the visitors into misses on 35 of their 57 attempts from the field.
Perhaps the most glaring statistic of the night? Kentucky’s 36-26 advantage in points in the paint against a Purdue team that’s renowned for its inside presence.
It was a statement result by UK, and the man on the opposing sideline took notice.
“More than anything, you have to keep the ball out of the paint,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said postgame. “I thought Kentucky just did a better job than us of keeping the ball out of the paint.”
Painter is entering his 21st season in charge in West Lafayette, Indiana, and this Purdue squad harbors hopes of winning the program’s first national championship. The Boilermakers are only two seasons removed from reaching the national championship game, and key holdovers from that group — guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith and forward Trey Kaufman-Renn — are the engine of this Purdue team.
But Friday night, Painter said a Kentucky team with 10 newcomers was the tougher squad.
He also rifled though several other reasons for the result.
On UK freshman Jasper Johnson, who led UK with 15 points and made a trio of 3-pointers: “Jasper Johnson is very twitchy, change of direction, change of pace, it really keeps you off balance with his stuff.”
On preseason SEC Player of the Year Otega Oweh, who scored 10 points in 17 effective minutes of game action: “Otega, he’s good, man. He’s getting angles and working downhill.”
On the rebounding margin, which saw UK outrebound Purdue 42-30 overall, 32-23 on the defensive glass and 10-7 on the offensive glass: “I know it’s only 10 offensive rebounds, but they dominated the defensive glass.”
Painter has recent experience in dealing with exhibition setbacks. Last season’s Purdue team — which reached the Sweet 16 for the eighth time in Painter’s tenure at the school — lost a tune-up game on the road at Creighton. The year prior, Purdue’s Final Four squad lost an exhibition contest at Arkansas.
On Friday night, Painter didn’t seem all that concerned with the long-term outlook of his Purdue squad, which was the preseason pick to win the Big Ten Conference regular season title for what would be a third time in four seasons.
But he was blunt about the areas in which the Boilermakers fell short against the Wildcats, and what Kentucky did to cause those issues.
Alongside the result, Friday’s exhibition is almost equally noteworthy for what Kentucky accomplished without two of its top projected players in Lowe and Quaintance.
“That’s the thing about being in a great program like Kentucky,” Painter said. “Next guys up. Next guys up.”
While Kentucky rolls on to another power-conference opponent next week with a home exhibition contest against Georgetown University, Purdue will take a step down in competition. The Boilermakers will host the University of Indianapolis, an NCAA Division II school, Wednesday night.
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 10:01 PM.
