Kentucky preparing for first true road game at Notre Dame

Kentucky’s first true road game of the season takes place tomorrow at Notre Dame; in fact, when you take the pandemic into account, it’ll be the first real road environment the program has seen since Nick Richards led the Cats back from an 18-point deficit at Florida on March 7, 2020. Keion Brooks and Dontaie Allen are the only scholarship players left from that squad, which will get a crash course in “Everybody’s Super Bowl” tomorrow night in South Bend.

“It’ll be a typical environment that we get,” John Calipari said of what he’s expecting at Purcell Pavilion. “It’s the game they mark on their calendar. It’s the game they’re excited to play.”

It might not be free t-shirt night in South Bend, but the Fighting Irish do have a few things planned. Notre Dame’s new head football coach Marcus Freeman will address the crowd and the school will induct former Notre Dame great LaPhonso Ellis into the Ring of Honor. Ellis, the program’s all-time leading shot blocker and No. 5 pick in the 1992 NBA Draft, will be on hand to see his jersey raised to the rafters at halftime.

Avoiding a repeat of 2012

The last time Kentucky played at Notre Dame was Nov. 29, 2012. The Cats were ranked eighth in the country and lost to the unranked Fighting Irish 64-50. The No. 1 ranked Notre Dame football team — including Manti Te’o — was introduced to a standing ovation at halftime. The atmosphere was wild, the Cats couldn’t hit a shot, and when the final buzzer sounded, Notre Dame fans stormed the court.

“If you look at, my guess is, every team we play on the road, their highest-attended game would be our game,” Calipari said. “It’s just what it is, it’s playing here. It’s what makes it unique and special and winning on the road has real significance here because you’re playing against their best, their most excited, their most engaged, and their laser-focus. That’s what you’re playing against and I would expect the same.”

Believe it or not, the game is not sold out yet. Plenty of tickets still remain, which is either a product of the Fighting Irish’s 3-4 start or a sign that Kentucky isn’t the draw it used to be. Either way, the fans that do go will be rowdy. Purcell Pavilion holds just over 9,000 fans; Davion Mintz expects it to sound like many more, referencing Creighton’s trip to Gonzaga in 2017.

“I know that can get really loud, a lot of people packed into one small spot. That 7,500 [at Gonzaga] can feel like 10,000, 12,000, 15,000. It’s a fun environment to be in, honestly, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Mintz, Grady believe Kentucky is ready for the challenge

This Kentucky team is different from the 2012-13 group in that there are more veterans; however, most of those veterans are transfers, so this will be the first time this group will face a road environment together. Davion Mintz and Kellan Grady believe the Cats are ready; for John Calipari, the jury is still out.

“I don’t know yet,” Calipari said when asked if he thinks his team will play well on the road. “We’ll see. All these experiences when you’ve got new teams are learning experiences.”

“I do,” Grady said. “The last seven games at home have been good to us. As I’ve said a bunch of times, we’ve got a mix of experience here and young guys excited to play in a hectic environment vs. another team. We expect to get their best shot and I think we’re getting prepared and we’ll all be ready for it.”

Add a little revenge factor for last season’s 64-63 loss to Notre Dame in Rupp and Mintz is more than ready for the trip to South Bend.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” Mintz said. “Notre Dame has a great home arena and they’re going to come at us and the fact that we have such a young core that’s going to come in and be challenged by it. You know, our three freshmen they haven’t had [a true road game] and also the year we had last year, we didn’t get a road game so for us to go to Notre Dame and the history that they have and also the way they kind of manhandled us coming into the season last year, this will be good for us for sure.”