This Week in Kentucky Basketball: Feast Week

As families get together to celebrate Thanksgiving, we also have one of the best college basketball weeks of the year. “Feast Week” brings daytime basketball, big time matchups, and some great early-season tournaments. Kentucky isn’t taking part in any of the national festivities, but there are two games at Rupp Arena to watch this week. The Albany Great Danes come in tonight and then the North Florida Ospreys are in Lexington on Friday.

Nationally, the premier game will be Tuesday night’s matchup between #1 Gonzaga and #2 UCLA with Dick Vitale making his return on the call. There are the traditional tournaments like the Maui Invitational and the Battle 4 Atlantis going on as well.

Let’s dive right into what is happening this week in Kentucky Basketball.

Top Kentucky Basketball Storyline: Just Keep Winning

There is no reason to sugarcoat it. Kentucky should pick up two big wins this week against teams they are significantly better than. Neither Albany nor North Florida have the talent to keep up with the ‘Cats. However, these games still are important for getting game reps and fine-tuning things on both ends of the floor before the schedule gets much tougher.

So far, the Wildcats have taken care of business with a pair of covers against Robert Morris and Mount St. Mary’s. Maintaining the trend of blowing out these teams that you are supposed to blow out will continue to prove that this Kentucky team is for real. Just keep winning and winning big.

This Week in Kentucky Basketball: Albany Great Danes & North Florida Ospreys

Albany Great Danes

It has been a tough start to the season for the Albany Great Danes. Things did not go well in their home opener against Towson. However, since then, they have been competitive against La Salle, Harvard, and Eastern Kentucky. First-year head coach Dwayne Killings has played a solid schedule so the Great Danes will be battled tested entering Rupp Arena this evening.

The transfer portal was an important tool for Coach Killings as he tried to quickly build a competitive roster. He was able to land star Division II transfer Matt Cerruti and Temple graduate De’Vondre Perry who have so far been the Great Danes two best players. Starting center Paul Newman was a four-year contributor at Bucknell, but hasn’t played a ton of minutes yet this season for Albany. Freshman Justin Neely is considered by many to be one of the best newcomers in the American East as well.

North Florida Ospreys

The Ospreys are 1-5 with their only win against NAIA Webber International. However, they have played a very tough schedule. They’ve made trips to Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Grand Canyon, Arizona State, and UCLA. In the early season, they have certainly taken their lumps, but they have shown some flashes of competitiveness against high-major competition.

North Florida gives themself a chance in every game because of the way they can shoot it from beyond the arc. They are shooting 35.3% from deep and are among the nation’s leaders in the number of points coming from three-point range. According to KenPom, they are 33rd nationally with 41.4% of their points coming from 3.

Around the Southeastern Conference

There are still seven undefeated teams in the SEC paced by Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State at 4-0. The Crimson Tide continue to look like one of the nation’s best offenses. This week, they will have a Thanksgiving day matchup with Rick Pitino and Iona before three straight early December games against ranked opponents. Things are about to get tough for Nate Oats.

LSU has a tough game this evening against Belmont in what will be their toughest test of the season so far. If they can take care of business in convincing fashion tonight it may be time to recalibrate how good we think the Tigers can be this season.

Texas A&M has an afternoon tipoff today at Wisconsin in the Maui Invitational that will show whether their 4-0 start is just good scheduling or if Buzz Williams does have an improved group. Likewise, Mississippi State has a big game on Thanksgiving night against Louisville. We will start to learn more about the SEC through this week of action.

In other action, Missouri takes on Florida State Monday evening, Auburn and UConn face off in a battle of top 25 teams on Wednesday afternoon, and LSU plays Penn State on Friday.

National Games to Watch

Monday, November 22nd

#12 Houston vs. Butler (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN2)

#21 Seton Hall vs. Ohio State (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, FS1)

#14 Illinois vs. Cincinnati (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ESPNews)

#10 Kentucky vs. Albany (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+)

#2 UCLA vs. Bellarmine (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+)

#23 Florida vs. California (8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, FS1)

#5 Duke vs. The Citadel (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ACC Network)

#13 Arkansas vs. Kansas State (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPNews)

#1 Gonzaga vs. Central Michigan (11:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPNU)

#24 USC vs. Dixie State (11:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Pac 12 Network)

Tuesday, November 23rd

#1 Gonzaga vs. #2 UCLA (10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN)

Fort Meyers Tip-off Classic

Hall of Fame Classic

Good Sam Empire Classic

Maui Invitational

Wednesday, November 24th

#22 UConn vs. #19 Auburn (2:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN)

#20 Michigan vs. Tarleton (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Big 10 Network)

#25 Xavier vs. Iowa State (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPNU)

#6 Baylor vs. Arizona State (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN2)

#8 Texas vs. California Baptist (8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Longhorn Network)

#18 BYU vs. Texas Southern (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#9 Memphis vs. Virginia Tech (9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN2)

Maui Invitational

NIT Season Tip-off

Battle 4 Atlantis

Thursday, November 25th

#4 Kansas vs. North Texas (2:30 p.m. Eastern Time)

#10 Alabama vs. Iona (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#24 USC vs. Saint Joseph’s (9:30 p.m. ESPN2)

Battle 4 Atlantis

ESPN Events Invitational

Baha Mar Bahamas Championship

Wooden Legacy

Friday, November 26th

#3 Purdue vs. Omaha (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#15 Tennessee vs. Tennessee Tech (3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+)

#10 Kentucky vs. North Florida (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network)

#14 Illinois vs. UT Rio Grande Valley (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#1 Gonzaga vs. #5 Duke (10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN)

NIT Season Tip-Off

Battle 4 Atlantis

ESPN Events Invitational

Baha Mar Bahamas Championship

Wooden Legacy

Saturday, November 27th

#16 St. Bonaventure vs. Northern Iowa (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+)

UNLV vs. #2 UCLA (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#17 Arizona vs. Sacramento State (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Pac 12 Network)

Utah vs. #18 BYU (9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Pac 12 Network)

Sunday, November 28th

#21 Seton Hall vs. Bethune-Cookman (Noon Eastern Time, FS1)

#23 Florida vs. Troy (Noon Eastern Time, SEC Network)

#13 Arkansas vs. Pennsylvania (4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network)

#7 Villanova vs. La Salle (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN2)