Aaron Bradshaw, Justin Edwards prepare for homecoming vs. Penn

Kentucky travels to Philadelphia to take on the Penn Quakers, an opportunity to get back in the win column and earn the team’s first victory away from Rupp Arena. It’s also a chance for the freshman trio of DJ Wagner, Aaron Bradshaw and Justin Edwards to return home to the greater Philly area to play in front of friends and family for the first time in college.

Bradshaw grew up 80 miles away in Roselle, NJ, but attended high school at Camden HS with Wagner — a Camden native — right across the Delaware River. As for Edwards, he’s a homegrown Philadelphian. Those two spoke with reporters ahead of the team’s matchup back home.

Aaron Bradshaw

“I have a couple of family members out there, it’ll be like going home, basically. I don’t know the exact number, but there are going to be quite a few people there (for me),” Bradshaw said. “We get four tickets, but knowing them, they probably got their own tickets. I don’t have to worry about their tickets [laughs].”

How many people wanted to claim one of those four tickets Bradshaw has reserved?

“Times twelve, s***.

He’s excited for the opportunity to prove to kids growing up in the area they can make it as high-level basketball players just like he was able to coming out of New Jersey.

“It’s going to be a blessing to me because not too many people where I come from get to that collegiate level, or even make it past high school,” Bradshaw said. “It’s going to be a teaching moment for the kids where I live. I can’t really explain the feeling, but it feels amazing.”

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Justin Edwards

As for Edwards, he talked about the value in responding with a win back home following a frustrating loss vs. UNCW last weekend.

“It feels good to play again, we learned a lot from last game. Moving forward, we’re going to be better.”

Part of that included a wild week of practice that included blocking the rims off and focusing entirely on passing, rebounding and defense. That’s got the team in the right mindset ahead of the big matchup in Philadelphia.