Coverage from the game:
Brown: Mark Pope proved last season he can coach. Can he cut it at Kentucky?
Coverage during the game:
LEXINGTON — Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope said all the right things Thursday about tonight’s opponent, Loyola University Maryland. It’s a squad that will constantly change up its defense to give UK differing looks, he vowed. The Greyhounds “are a terrific team,” he stated.
The numbers tell another story.
The only statistical category tracked by the NCAA in which Loyola ranks among the top 50 nationally is 3-point percentage defense (25.9), where it’s tied for 33rd. In the KenPom.com rankings, the Greyhounds are 293rd (of 365 Division I teams).
Still, Pope believes tonight will be “a good, competitive game.”
“Competitive” being a relative term here, as Loyola is 2-4 this season; its only victories are over Penn State Abington (a Division III club) and Stonehill (a Division I team even further down the KenPom rankings, sitting 332nd as of Thursday night).
Not surprisingly, Pope’s Thursday news conference contained more questions about his team’s chemistry — or lack thereof — after a 3-2 start.
“I think our guys love each other. They care about each other. They’re trying to fight for each other,” Pope said of his team, which is 13th in the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll and 12th in the AP Top 25. “For every team in the world, for every team I’ve ever been on, there’s always a sense of this growth: The more you can love each other, the more you can sacrifice for each other, the more you care about each other.”
The Cats will attempt to put those good vibes on display tonight in front of their home fans.
Courier Journal columnist C.L. Brown is at Rupp Arena and will have live updates throughout the game — here and on X, formerly known as Twitter — and complete coverage after. You can follow him on X at @clbrownhoops.
Follow along with live updates from today’s game between the Wildcats and Greyhounds below:
Kentucky had a balanced approach and got back in stride in its 42-point blasting of the Greyhounds Friday night.
Five players scored in double figures led by 13 points each from Kam Williams and Collin Chandler. Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen chipped in 11 points each and Malachi Moreno, in his first start, had 10 points and eight rebounds.
The game ball belonged to Williams, who hadn’t really made much of a statement this season since transferring from Tulane. Starting in place of an injured Mouhamed Dioubate, Williams added nine rebounds and four assists.
UK is making it look easy, out to a 50-20 lead against Loyola at halftime.
The Cats held the Greyhounds to just one basket over nearly the final nine minutes of the half. They’ve also held Loyola to just 27% shooting from the floor.
UK’s Kam Williams, in making his first start, banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to have seven points, five rebounds and three assists.
Collin Chandler leads all scorers with 11 points as combined he and Otega Oweh’s nine points match the Greyhounds total output through the first 20 minutes.
With 7:36 left, the Wildcats lead 33-18.
Otega Oweh leads UK with nine points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field. Collin Chandler has added eight points including two from behind the arc.
The Cats are again allowing a poor 3-point shooting team to make shots. Loyola entered the game shooting just 29% from 3, but is 4-for-11 so far against UK.
Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope sending a message or rewarding play?
Kam Williams is likely in the starting lineup because of Mouhamed Diobate’s injury against Michigan State. Read more on that here.
But Malachi Moreno? It just may serve as both a message to Brandon Garrison, who started the first five games, and the rest of the team not to get complacent.
Garrison had perhaps his worst defensive performance of the season against the Spartans. Moreno, a Georgetown native, has been pretty consistent coming off the bench this season. He garnered the biggest applause during starting lineup introductions.
Kentucky’s starters vs Loyola include a shakeup in the lineup as Kam Williams and Malachi Moreno make their first starts this season:
And here’s Loyola’s lineup:
The game between the Wildcats and Greyhounds will not air on a traditional television channel.
Instead, it will be streamed live on SEC Network+, a complementary digital platform to the linear SEC Network run by ESPN.
Authenticated subscribers can access SEC Network+ via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com, the WatchESPN app or ESPN+.
Stream Kentucky basketball’s game vs. Loyola Maryland on SEC Network+
Tom Leach (play-by-play) and Jack Givens (analyst) will have the UK radio network call on 840 AM in Louisville and both 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington.
You can also listen online via UKAthletics.com.
Oct. 17: Blue-White game (Click here to read takeaways from the intrasquad scrimmage.)Oct. 24: exhibition vs. Purdue (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 78, Purdue 65Oct. 30: exhibition vs. Georgetown University (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Georgetown 84, Kentucky 70Nov. 4: Nicholls (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 77, Nicholls 51Nov. 7: Valparaiso (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 107, Valparaiso 59Nov. 11: at Louisville (KFC Yum! Center) | SCORE: Louisville 96, Kentucky 88Nov. 14: Eastern Illinois (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 99, Eastern Illinois 53Nov. 18: vs. Michigan State (Champions Classic; Madison Square Garden, New York) | SCORE: Michigan State 83, Kentucky 66Nov. 21: Loyola University Maryland (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 88, Loyola Maryland 46Nov. 26: Tennessee Tech (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m.Dec. 2: North Carolina (Rupp Arena; ACC/SEC Challenge), 9:30 p.m.Dec. 5: vs. Gonzaga (Bridgestone Arena; Nashville), 7 p.m.Dec. 9: North Carolina Central (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m.Dec. 13: Indiana (Rupp Arena), 7:30 p.m.Dec. 20: vs. St. John’s (CBS Sports Classic; State Farm Arena, Atlanta), 12:30 p.m.Dec. 23: Bellarmine (Rupp Arena), 1 p.m.Jan. 3: at Alabama, 1 p.m.Jan. 7: Missouri (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m.Jan. 10: Mississippi State (Rupp Arena), 8:30 p.m.Jan. 14: at LSU, 7 p.m.Jan. 17: at Tennessee, noonJan. 21: Texas (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m.Jan. 24: Ole Miss (Rupp Arena), noonJan. 27: at Vanderbilt, 9 p.m.Jan. 31: at Arkansas, 6:30 p.m.Feb. 4: Oklahoma (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m.Feb. 7: Tennessee (Rupp Arena), 8:30 p.m.Feb. 14: at Florida, 3 p.m.Feb. 17: Georgia (Rupp Arena), 9 p.m.Feb. 21: at Auburn, 8:30 p.m.Feb. 24: at South Carolina, 7 p.m.Feb. 28: Vanderbilt (Rupp Arena), 2 p.m.March 3: at Texas A&M, 7 p.m.March 7: Florida (Rupp Arena), 4 p.m.
Record: 3-2
Denzel Aberdeen (guard, senior)Collin Chandler (guard, sophomore)Mouhamed Dioubate (forward, junior)Brandon Garrison (forward, junior)Braydon Hawthorne (forward, freshman)Walker Horn (guard, senior)Andrija Jelavić (forward, sophomore)Jasper Johnson (guard, freshman)Jaland Lowe (guard, junior)Malachi Moreno (freshman, center)Trent Noah (forward, sophomore)Otega Oweh (guard, senior)Reece Potter (forward, junior)Jayden Quaintance (forward, sophomore)Zach Tow (forward, senior)Kam Williams (guard, sophomore)
Click here to view the Greyhounds’ complete schedule.
Want to learn the Greyhounds’ roster?
Click here for player bios and more.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.