Kentucky players excited to take on new competition vs. KWC in exhibition

From the minute players arrived on campus this summer through today, the Kentucky basketball team has seen nothing but the same faces every day in practice. Every drill, walkthrough and scrimmage has been blue against white in some form or fashion for five straight months.

That changes for the first time Friday when the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers come to town for Kentucky’s first exhibition matchup of two this preseason. It may not feel like a significant moment for the average UK fan, but it means quite a bit to the players.

“We’re looking forward to it,” graduate transfer guard Kellan Grady said Wednesday. “We’ve had a good two months of practice. It’s been filled with the competitive spirit amongst our team and we enjoy going against each other every day but I’m positive our whole team is looking forward to lacing it up against a different opponent. “

“It’s gonna be a great time,” freshman forward Bryce Hopkins added. “We’ve been battling against each other in practice all year long, all summer, so this is gonna be good to get somebody else to compete.”

The Panthers play at the Division II level, a game on paper that heavily favors the Wildcats. The players, however, see potential adversity in any matchup, regardless of competition.

Now is about fixing small mistakes and working through the kinks before the team’s season-opener against Duke on November 9.

“Just being able to play against somebody else, that’s going to be good for us. It’s going to be our first time doing that this fall,” said Grady. “There’s always adversity in a game and we’ll see how we respond to that. We could go through a lull of missed shots — there’s just natural adversity throughout every game no matter who you’re playing.

“I think that’ll be a good collective test for us.”

Hopkins believes the real test will be seeing how Kentucky performs against a team that doesn’t know its tendencies. It’s a much-needed measuring stick as UK prepares for the Champions Classic and beyond.

“It’s always hard to play against your teammates because they know all your moves,” said Hopkins. “So it’s just going to be good to go out there and play against new competition who don’t know your moves and stuff like that. So the game should come much easier.”

Kentucky will take on Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network, followed by a game against Miles College on Nov. 5 to wrap up the exhibition slate.

UK and KWC will meet for the 13th time in program history, but the first since Nov. 9, 2004 when the Wildcats defeated the Panthers 79-54.

Kentucky is 138-12 all-time in exhibition games and has won its last 17 such contests, dating back to Nov. 2, 2014 vs. Pikeville. Kentucky is 35-1 in exhibition games under John Calipari.