Kentucky women return to SEC/Big 12 Challenge to play a foe they’ve never faced
The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will return to the SEC/Big 12 Challenge this season for the first time in three years.
The Wildcats, who return several top players from last season’s 22-8 squad and boast a highly regarded incoming recruiting class, will take on Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan., in the annual series between rival leagues.
No date, tip time or TV channel has yet been announced for the game, which will be played in KSU’s Bramlage Coliseum and marks the first women’s basketball meeting between the schools.
Each year, 10 teams from the SEC compete against every team from the 10-team Big 12, so four Southeastern Conference schools are left out. The Challenge began as a two-game series in 2014 but grew to 10 games in 2016.
The Big 12 leads the all-time series 24-20, having won 8-2 last season.
Kentucky is 1-1 all-time in the Challenge.
UK beat Oklahoma 82-68 in 2016-17 in Lexington then lost 90-63 at Baylor the following season.
Kansas State is 2-2 in the Challenge, having beaten Auburn (2016-17) and Vanderbilt (2018-19) at home and lost to Missouri (2017-18) and Arkansas (2019-20) on the road.
Kansas State finished 16-13 overall and 10-8 in the Big 12 last season.
KSU is led by 6-foot-5 center Ayoka Lee, who was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year last season after averaging 15.7 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots per game.
Kentucky is No. 12 in ESPN’s “Way Too Early Top 25” rankings for 2020-21. Kansas State is not ranked.
UK is led by 6-foot-2 guard Rhyne Howard, who was named SEC Player of the Year and an Associated Press First Team All-American last season after averaging 23.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
2020-21 SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchups
▪ Kentucky at Kansas State
▪ South Carolina at Iowa State
▪ Alabama at Oklahoma State
▪ Texas A&M at Texas
▪ Tennessee at West Virginia
▪ Baylor at Arkansas
▪ Kansas at Ole Miss
▪ Oklahoma at Georgia
▪ TCU at Missouri
▪ Texas Tech at Vanderbilt
SEC teams not participating in 2020-21: Auburn, Florida, LSU, Mississippi State.
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 1:38 PM.