Things To See In Kentucky's Blue-White Game

With Kentucky Football on rest this weekend, Kentucky Basketball will borrow the Saturday spotlight for its annual Blue-White Game. The Wildcats’ preseason scrimmage will tip off Saturday night at 6 PM on SEC Network Plus (that’s through the app, not the cable channel) or through the radio airwaves with Tom Leach and Jack Givens providing play-by-play commentary for the UK Sports Network.

This year’s game doesn’t have the excitement that it has had in years past considering fans already saw the new team play four full games in the Bahamas, removing the usual mystery ahead of the Blue-White scrimmage. But it’s still an early glimpse at Kentucky’s new team and there is plenty to see when the ‘Cats play each other in the last dress rehearsal Saturday night. For me, here are some things I am looking for at this year’s Blue-White game:

More Ugonna Onyenso

The one player we didn’t see in the Bahamas is Ugonna Onyenso, the late addition to Kentucky Basketball’s incoming class. Onyenso committed to Kentucky on August 1, a week before the Wildcats traveled to the Bahamas for four preseason exhibition games, and was unable to join his new teammates for all of the fun in the sun.

But since practices began back in the States, the 6-foot-11 freshman has been a part of all team activities, including daily battles with Oscar Tshiebwe. Tshiebwe recently said the newcomer’s shotblocking has been giving him trouble in practices and reports from behind closed doors suggest the 18-year-old is adapting to the new level at a fast pace.

At Big Blue Madness, fans got a small glimpse of Onyenso’s potential when he debuted in the brief Big Blue Madness scrimmage with a dunk in transition. Saturday night he should get a lot of run in the Blue-White game with Oscar Tshiebwe sidelined; although, it would be fun to see a head-to-head matchup in the public eye.

Antonio Reeves vs CJ Fredrick

Another intrasquad head-to-head battle that has my attention is the ongoing shoot-off between Antonio Reeves and CJ Fredrick. Fredrick had been the presumed “shooter” of the team until Reeves’ transferred in out of Illinois State and blew everyone away in the Bahamas by hitting 14 threes on only 27 tries, leading the entire team in scoring, and winning Most Valuable Player for the whole trip. Then at Big Blue Madness, Fredrick picked his spot in the 3-Point Shootout rotation as the event’s defending champion, only for Reeves to shoot first and post the winning score by a four-point margin.

Obviously, there is plenty of room for two lights-out shooters and we love them equally, but a friendly rivalry among the team’s best perimeter threats could be good for all parties. I hope they both get hot and put on a show Saturday night.

Who’s healthy?

Maybe of most importance, I’m interested to see who is fully healthy eight days before the first exhibition game. We know Oscar Tshiebwe is unavailable as he recovers from his knee procedure. Then when Jacob Toppin was picked to fill in for Tshiebwe at SEC Basketball Media Day, he suffered a Tuesday practice injury that was bad enough to keep him home from Wednesday’s interviews in Birmingham. Lance Ware took Toppin’s place at Media Day, but Ware missed Big Blue Madness and at least a couple of practices earlier in the week, maybe more, with a pulled muscle. Calipari said he was down to seven active players at Tuesday’s practice and he needed managers and walk-ons, and even one coach, to fill out the court. And before all of that, CJ Fredrick had to miss Pro Day (Oct. 9) with a new ankle injury, but he was a full participant at Big Blue Madness a week ago.

Daimion Collins dunking

Daimion Collins has been the breakout star of the fall after he shined in the Bahamas, at UK’s Pro Day, and again at Big Blue Madness. I can’t wait to see what the sophomore has in store Saturday night in the Blue-White game, maybe more things like this:

A great turnout in Eastern Kentucky

This year, the Blue-White Game is at Appalachian Wireless Arena in Pikeville, Kentucky, part of the team’s fundraising efforts for flood relief in Eastern Kentucky. The day includes a pregame Fan Fest, community engagement, the fundraising component, and the very rare chance to see a Kentucky Basketball event outside of Lexington. Hopefully, the unique host site for the Blue-White game draws a huge local crowd both in support of the team and the flood relief, but mostly because the people of that area, especially the families directly impacted, deserve a night of fun. May we see a packed house and lots of smiles, some good basketball, and a lot of money raised to help rebuild Eastern Kentucky.

Go Cats.