Live updates: Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky college basketball
After a 108-59 romp over Jackson State last Friday, Kentucky men’s basketball welcomes the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers to Rupp Arena on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
Ben Roberts, Mark Story, Cameron Drummond and Ryan Hermens will be covering the game from Rupp Arena. On X/Twitter, you can follow @markcstory, @cdrummond97 and @ryanhermens. You can follow Ben on Bluesky at @benrobertshl.
You can follow a dedicated Kentucky basketball X/Twitter list by clicking here.
Kentucky-Western Kentucky pregame info
Records: Kentucky is 5-0. In its last game, UK defeated Jackson State 108-59 on Nov. 22. Western Kentucky is 3-2. The Hilltoppers also played Jackson State in their last outing. WKU beat the Tigers 79-62 in Bowling Green on Nov. 20.
Series: Kentucky leads the series 5-2. Last meeting, UK defeated the Hilltoppers 95-60 on Dec. 22, 2021.
Rosters: Kentucky — Western Kentucky
Rankings: UK is ranked No. 8 in the latest college basketball AP Top 25.
Pomeroy: Kentucky is ranked No. 13 in Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency numbers. The Wildcats are ranked 11th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 23rd in adjusted defensive efficiency. Western Kentucky is ranked 125th in overall efficiency. The Hilltoppers are 224th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 73rd in adjusted defensive efficiency.
Coaches: Mark Pope is in his first year as the head coach at Kentucky. Including his time at Utah Valley and BYU, Pope is 192-108. Hank Plona is in his first year as the head coach at WKU. He was the head coach at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, where he compiled a 225-35 record from 2015-16 through 2022-23.
Scoring leaders: Otega Oweh leads Kentucky in scoring at 16.2 points per game. Don McHenry leads the ‘Toppers in scoring at 17.2 points per game.
Rebound leaders: Amari Williams leads UK in rebounding at 10.8 per game. Babacar Faye leads WKU in rebounds at 7.8 per game.
Assist leaders: Kerr Kriisa leads the Cats in assists at 5.2 per game. Jalen Jackson leads Western in assists at 3.0 per game.
Team stats: As a team, Kentucky is shooting 52.1 percent from the floor, including 42.3 from 3-point range. The Wildcats are making 75.6 percent of their free throws. As a team, Western Kentucky is shooting 44.0 percent from the floor, including 37.4 percent from 3-point range. The Hilltoppers are shooting 69.9 percent from the foul line.
Kentucky men’s basketball stats
Western Kentucky men’s basketball stats
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