First Scouting Report: In Saint Joseph’s, UK will face a team with which Cats have a past
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Game day: No. 17 Kentucky 101, Stonehill College 67
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Friday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Stonehill College in Rupp Arena.
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 17 Kentucky (3-1) will face Saint Joseph’s (3-1) on Monday, Nov. 20, at Rupp Arena (capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington.
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Saint Joseph’s lost a home game to Texas A&M-Commerce 57-54 on Friday night.
Series history
Kentucky’s leads the all-time series with Saint Joseph’s 2-0.
Most recent meeting
Cameron Mills came off the bench to hit 6 of 8 shots, 5 of 6 3-pointers, and score 19 points to spark Kentucky to an 83-68 victory over Saint Joseph’s in the NCAA Tournament West Region semifinals in San Jose, California, on March, 20, 1997.
Ron Mercer also contributed 19 points and Wayne Turner added 16 points and six assists for UK.
Know your foe
1. A proud men’s basketball program with long tradition as part of Philadelphia’s famed Big 5, Saint Joseph’s has not enjoyed a winning season since longtime, former head man Phil Martelli coached the Hawks to a 28-8 mark in 2015-16.
In the three seasons that followed 2015-16, Martelli failed to lead Saint Joseph’s to a winning year in any of them and was removed as coach in a controversial ouster after the Hawks went 14-19 in 2018-19.
2. Current Saint Joe’s coach Billy Lange is a former head man at Navy (92-115 from 2004 through 2011) and an ex-assistant for Jay Wright at Villanova and with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.
Lange has presided over a methodical rebuild, with Saint Joseph’s going 6-26, 5-15, 11-19 and 16-17 (last season) in his first four years leading the Hawks program.
This year, however, Saint Joe’s appears to have a chance to return to college hoops relevance. According to the “Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook,” the Hawks return all five starters and 88% of their scoring from last season.
The Hawks were picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, as voted by the league’s coaches and select media members.
3. The strength of St. Joseph’s is its veteran core of perimeter players — who typically shoot 3-pointers well and take care of the basketball.
▪ Eric Reynolds, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior, is St. Joe’s top player. Going into Friday night’s game with Texas A&M-Commerce, Reynolds was averaging 15.3 points, shooting 47.6% on 3-point tries and had 10 assists versus four turnovers.
▪ Lynn Greer, the son of the former Temple star of the same name, is a junior who began his college career at Dayton. A 6-2, 180-pound product of Philadelphia, Greer entered play Friday averaging 11.7 points, hitting 66.7% (4 of 6) of his treys and had 17 assists versus three turnovers.
▪ Super-senior Cameron Brown is playing his fifth season for Saint Joseph’s. The 6-6, 225-pound product of Laurel, Maryland, entered play Friday averaging 10.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and had eight assists with only one turnover.
This story was originally published November 17, 2023 at 9:15 PM.
