A Kentucky vs. Bellarmine matchup in Rupp Arena has reportedly been scheduled for 2025-26

An in-state showdown at Rupp Arena has been locked in.

According to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Kentucky will host the Bellarmine Knights on Tuesday, December 23 in Lexington. It will mark just the second-ever game between these two programs, according to BigBlueHistory, the first matchup coming in Nov. 2022 — a 60-41 win for the Wildcats that saw Antonio Reeves lead the way with a game-high 18 points.

Why have these Bluegrass-based teams only played once before? Because Bellarmine didn’t make the jump from Division II to Division I until the 2020-21 season. The Knights won the Division II national championship in 2011 under former head coach Scott Davenport. Bellarmine is now led by his son, Doug Davenport, who is going into his first season as head coach.

Source: Kentucky will host Bellarmine on December 23rd at Rupp Arena.

Mark Pope vs. Doug Davenport.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 5, 2025

The transition to DI college basketball hasn’t been easy thus far for Bellarmine, a member of the ASUN Conference. After back-to-back winning campaigns in 2020-21 (14-8 with an appearance in the College Basketball Invitational semifinal) and 2021-22 (20-13), the Knights have finished with losing records the last three seasons. Bellarmine won 15 games in 2022-23, eight games in 2023-24, and just five games in 2024-25 before Scott Davenport stepped into retirement last month.

Bellarmine is one of several non-conference games we know will be on Kentucky’s 2025-26 schedule. The Wildcats will take on Michigan State (Nov. 18), UCLA (TBD), Gonzaga (Dec. 5), Indiana (Dec. 20), Bellarmine (Dec. 23), Louisville (TBD), and an ACC opponent still to be announced as part of the yearly SEC/ACC Challenge.

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