Coverage from the game:

Brown: This Kentucky basketball team remains a mystery ahead of SEC schedule

Coverage during the game:

Kentucky basketball isn’t expected to face much of a test today, when it battles Bellarmine at Rupp Arena.

Per KenPom.com, UK’s likelihood of winning today is 99%. KenPom’s projected final score: Kentucky 89, Bellarmine 63.

While coach Mark Pope never fails to praise an opponent, regularly calling “every game the biggest game” the Wildcats ever have had to reckon with, today’s matchup isn’t one where the hosts should have to break much of a sweat.

Stream Kentucky vs. Bellarmine

The chief objective for Pope’s group: Ensuring point guard Jaland Lowe and big man Jayden Quaintance make it through in one piece.

Lowe suffered a shoulder injury in October. He reinjured it last month. Then he injured it once more during the first half of last week’s win over St. John’s. Lowe returned and had a dazzling second half (13 points, three rebounds and three assists). Quaintance’s debut as a Wildcat occurred in that same victory over the Red Storm. The sophomore tore his ACL last season at Arizona State, then spent the rest of the year rehabbing until he took the floor last week.

Pope said Quaintance will be on a minutes restriction, though one the coach expects “will work its way out relatively quickly.” As for Lowe, Pope joked the transfer from Pittsburgh “has been petitioning to only be a game player,” eschewing practice entirely.

“Or maybe I’ve been petitioning for that,” Pope said with a smile. “So, we’ll continue to just proceed with caution with him. He’s just so tough, man. He’s so tough. You saw the impact that he can have on our team.”

Lowe, Quaintance and the rest of the Wildcats (8-4) hope to end the calendar year on a high note with a resounding win over the Knights (5-6).

The Courier Journal is bringing you live updates throughout the game.

Follow along with live updates from today’s game between the Wildcats and Knights below:

Kam Williams scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Cats past the Knights in the final nonconference game before SEC play begins at Alabama on Jan. 3. Four other UK players scored double figures, including forward Mouhamed Dioubate’s 20 points.

The Knights were led by Jack Karasinski’s 24 points.

Kam Williams caught fire shooting, making three 3-pointers in a row to run his total to 17 points to lead UK scorers. Bellarmine finally blinked from the free-throw line after making 16 consecutive to start the game, missing on the 17th attempt.

The Cats entered the game as 34.5-point favorites and trailed for only 2:30 in the first half, yet through the first half things are looking more like it’s headed to be a close game instead of a blowout. UK holds an eight-point lead over the Knights thanks to a five-point flurry in the final 51 seconds.

Kentucky has been boosted by 23 points off the bench led by eight each from Jasper Johnson and Kam Williams.

The Knights are led by Jack Karasinski’s 14 points on 4-for-4 shooting.

The Cats are shooting well from 3-point range, making 4 of their 10 attempts, but are allowing the Knights to stay close thanks to 11 points from forward Jack Karasinski.

For the Knights:

G Kenyon Goodin

G Darrius Bolden

F Brian Waddell

F Sam Donald

F Jack Karasinski

For the Wildcats:

G Otega Oweh

G Denzel Aberdeen

G Collin Chandler

F Mouhamed Dioubate

F Malachi Moreno

The game between the Wildcats and Knights 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. Bellarmine on SEC Network+

Betting odds: Kentucky is a 35 ½-point favorite (-110) on DraftKings, which set the over/under at 153 ½ points (-110).

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) | SCORE: Kentucky 104, Tennessee Tech 54Dec. 2: North Carolina (Rupp Arena; ACC/SEC Challenge) | SCORE: North Carolina 67, Kentucky 64Dec. 5: vs. Gonzaga (Bridgestone Arena; Nashville) | SCORE: Gonzaga 94, Kentucky 59Dec. 9: North Carolina Central (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 103, North Carolina Central 67Dec. 13: Indiana (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 72, Indiana 60Dec. 20: vs. St. John’s (CBS Sports Classic; State Farm Arena, Atlanta) | SCORE: Kentucky 78, St. John’s 66Dec. 23: Bellarmine (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 99, Bellarmine 85Jan. 3: at Alabama, noonJan. 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), 9 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: 8-4

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 Knights’ complete schedule.

Want to learn the Knights’ 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.