After beating top-ranked Purdue on Friday, the Kentucky men’s basketball team returns to action on Thursday, hosting Georgetown University for an exhibition game inside Rupp Arena (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network Plus).
In the 78-65 win, Kentucky got 15 points from freshman Jasper Johnson and 10 apiece from Trent Noah and Otega Oweh. UK head coach Mark Pope, who met the media on Wednesday, liked how his team responded against the Boilermakers.
“What I was really excited about in the Purdue game was, I was afraid we were going to feel small because Purdue’s frontline is so veteran, so physical,” Pope said. “At least in that one game, I didn’t feel like we were small and that made me feel really good.”
Pope believes his team has a lot of positive attributes.
“I haven’t coached a team this deep before,” Pope said. “It’s one of the challenges that we’re really excited about. It’s a rich person’s problem. We’re really blessed in the sense of having such an incredibly deep team and trying to fit these guys together. We feel like we have some speed, some mobility, some toughness.”
Kentucky’s opponent on Thursday night is one of the historically biggest names in the college game.
“The Georgetown Hoyas, one of the great programs in college basketball and they have one of the best coaches in coach Ed Cooley,” Pope said. “Tough, tough team. It’s going to be a big-time game in Rupp Arena.”
Georgetown won its exhibition opener, topping George Washington, 73-64. Sophomore forward Caleb Williams led the Hoyas with 20 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Malik Mack added 16.
The Cats and the Hoyas have met just twice. In 1922, it was Georgetown getting the best of Kentucky 33-28 in Washington, D.C.
In 1984, the Cats and the Hoyas met in the Final Four in Seattle. The game was memorable, but not for reasons that Kentucky fans want to recall. Led by Sam Bowie, Melvin Turpin and Kenny Walker, Kentucky led Georgetown 29-22 at the half inside the Kingdome. However, the second half was a disaster for Kentucky. The Cats made just three of 33 field goals (9.1 percent) in the final 20 minutes and Georgetown rallied for a 53-40 win. UK had a scoreless stretch of 9:56 on the game clock.
Pope and his Cats hope that Thursday’s exhibition contest against Georgetown will be memorable for much happier reasons.
