First Scouting Report: Kentucky is up next on Florida A&M’s murderous schedule
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Game day: No. 16 UCLA 63, No. 13 Kentucky 53
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and UCLA at Madison Square Garden in New York.
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 13 Kentucky (7-3, 0-0 SEC) will face Florida A&M (2-7, 0-0 SWAC) on Wednesday, Dec. 21, in the Unity Series at Rupp Arena (seating capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington:
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by the SEC Network.
Coach Robert McCullum’s Rattlers lost 61-55 to Louisville on Saturday at the KFC Yum Center.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Florida A&M 1-0.
Most recent meeting
Gerald Fitch scored 26 points, Erik Daniels added 18 and Chuck Hayes just missed a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as No. 1 seed Kentucky beat No. 16 seed Florida A&M 96-76 in the NCAA Tournament round of 64 on March 19, 2004, at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Power rankings
The NCAA NET Rankings have Kentucky No. 29, Florida A&M No. 357.
In the Pomeroy Ratings, Kentucky stands No. 7, Florida A&M No. 359.
The Sagarin Ratings have Kentucky No. 16, Florida A&M No. 348.
Know your foe
1. Entering play Saturday, Florida A&M had played the third-toughest schedule in NCAA Division I men’s college hoops, according to the Pomeroy Ratings — and the Rattlers’ non-league slate still has two more brutal road games to go.
Already this season, Coach Robert McCullum’s squad has played at Oregon (80-45 loss), at Oregon State (60-43 loss), at Miami (87-61 loss), at Florida (102-62 loss), at Georgia (68-46 loss) and at U of L (61-55 loss).
Still ahead are games at No. 13 UK and at No. 1 Purdue (Dec. 29).
2. Florida A&M lost its top seven scorers from last season’s 13-17 team that finished fourth (11-7) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. In rebuilding his team’s roster, McCullum prioritized length. The Rattlers have nine players who stand 6-foot-7 or taller.
3. Against its rugged non-league slate, Florida A&M has struggled to get the ball through the basket. Through 10 games, the Rattlers are making only 35.3 percent of their field goal attempts; 26.9 percent of their three-point tries; and 62.7 percent of their foul shots.
FAMU’s leading scorers are 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior guard Jordan Tillmon, 10.7 points a game, and 6-7, 215-pound junior forward Jaylen Bates, 10 points a game.
This story was originally published December 17, 2022 at 8:24 PM.
