Drew Timme jokes Kentucky is 'scared' to play in Gonzaga's arena

With Kentucky set to play Gonzaga at Spokane Arena instead of “The Kennel”, Drew Timme claimed it was because they were scared. The marquee game between the Wildcats and the Bulldogs is set to take place on Nov. 20 at Spokane Arena, a decision made while scheduling their six-game series because of the venue’s size.

According to the star Gonzaga forward however, the decision was truly made because Kentucky is scared of the Bulldogs’ home-court advantage.

“I’d be scared to play here as well, have to play down the road,” Timme told Gonzaga fans this weekend.

When the schools announced their upcoming six-game series, the planned games included two home-and-home matchups and two neutral-site games. Although Kentucky will host two games at Rupp Arena, only one of the matchups hosted by Gonzaga will be at the McCarthey Athletic Center — known better as The Kennel.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari said when the venues were announced that the first game of the series would be held at Spokane Arena because of the venue’s size. Spokane Arena can hold nearly double the amount of fans as The Kennel — 12,210 total — and will be a better site for fans of Kentucky to be able to get tickets to according to Calipari.

“I’m excited about playing Gonzaga. I’m disappointed that we have to go there first, but to make it happen I was willing to do that,” Calipari said back in August. “Playing in front of 13K crazy fans in Spokane Arena will be exciting just like it will be in front of 22K fans in Rupp next year. I imagine there will be some #BBN and some Gonzaga fans too who will sneak in the game this year because there’s more seats!

“Anybody that wants us to play in a 6,000-seat facility, wants us to lose! And I get that,” Calipari added. “I tried to look back and find the last time UK played in a true regular-season road game with 6,000 or fewer fans. I stopped looking after the 70s.”

After the initial matchup this year, 2023 will see Gonzaga travel to Rupp Arena to play Kentucky in their home game. Timme added to his comments that playing in Rupp was a game he was excited for, but compared the decision to play at Spokane Arena to playing at another Kentucky arena instead of Rupp.

“The thing I don’t get is, why would you go to Kentucky to go play at the Kentucky convention center rather than Rupp? That’s my only thing,” Timme said. “… You’re not going to the convention center to play Kentucky, you’re going to Rupp. I feel like it’s the same thing here.

“Kentucky’s a great team, they’re an all-time program. It’s going to be a battle, a game that can go either way. They’re a good team, the game is up in the air, 50/50 either way.”