Kentucky men’s basketball has had a big week gearing up for the Blue-White WBB/MBB Scrimmage on Friday at historic Memorial Coliseum on the UK campus.
The event is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT and will air live on the SEC Network+.
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During Kentucky’s practice Wednesday, the Wildcats had a very special guest in actor Adam Sandler, who was given a UK game jersey with his last name across the back.
Sandler had a show at Rupp Arena on Thursday night.Kentucky was ranked No. 9 in the preseason AP Top 25 that was announced Monday.
UK’s opening exhibition foe, Purdue, begins the season as the preseason No. 1 ranked team. Rounding out the top five include Houston, Florida, UConn and St. John’s. The full preseason rankings are available via collegebasketball.ap.org.
Kentucky will face Purdue on Friday Oct. 24 at 5 p.m. CT at Rupp Arena.
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Ten Kentucky regular-season opponents enter the 2025-26 season ranked in the AP Top 25, including four nonconference opponents in St. John’s (No. 5), Louisville (No. 11), Gonzaga (No. 21) and Michigan State (No. 22). A fifth opponent, Indiana, is receiving votes to open the year.
In addition to the Wildcats, a nation-tying six Southeastern Conference programs rank among the AP Top 25 to begin the season including Florida (No. 3), Arkansas (No. 14), Alabama (No. 15), Tennessee (No. 18) and Auburn (No. 20). Six more — Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Oklahoma — are receiving votes.
UK will have 12 total regular-season matchups in 2025-26 against preseason top 25 opponents.
Also on Monday, senior guard Otega Oweh was named the Southeastern Conference’s preseason pick for SEC Player of the Year, while junior guard Jaland Lowe earned preseason third-team accolades to highlight the early-season honors for the Kentucky men’s basketball team. The Wildcats were selected to finish second in the overall standings.
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Oweh enjoyed a breakout season in his first year in Blue and White. He led the Cats in scoring at 16.2 points per game and began the year by topping double figures in each of the first 26 contests and 33 overall. The Newark, New Jersey native set career-best marks in points per game, rebounds per game (4.7), assists per game (1.7), steals per game (1.6), blocks per game (0.5) and free-throw percentage (.776). In addition to his offensive prowess, Oweh also led the Cats in steals with 57 on the season.
A season ago he was a second-team All-SEC selection and also earned National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District First-Team honors.
UK’s 6-foot-4 senior guard topped the voting for preseason player of the year accolades from a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Also earning votes were Tennessee’s Nate Ament, Florida’s Alex Condon, Boogie Fland and Thomas Haugh; Malik Dia of Ole Miss, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard and Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford. Since the SEC began selection a preseason player of the year in 1997-98, Oweh is the seventh Wildcat to earn the honor. No other school has more than three.
