The Kentucky Wildcats look to remain unbeaten when Duquesne comes to Rupp Arena on Sunday night.
The 3-0 Cats are coming off easily their best game of the young season, a 69-48 win over No. 13 Michigan State in the Champions Classic.
The Wildcats' defense has been stout in the first three games, forcing an average of 22.0 turnovers per game. UK did not allow a single MSU player to score in double figures while forcing the Spartans into 20 turnovers.
For just the second time since the 1949-50 season, we have won each of our first three games to start the year by at least 21 points.
— Kentucky Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 18, 2016
This was the breakout game for freshman guard Malik Monk, who scored 23 points and hit seven 3-pointers. He's averaging 16.3 points per game, the second most on the team. Fellow freshman guard De'Aaron Fox is averaging a team-high 7.0 assists per game, including six in Tuesday’s win over MSU.
Sophomore Isaiah Briscoe leads UK in scoring with a 19.7 average. He's scored 21 in each of the last two games. Those three guards have forced arguably the best backcourt in the nation after just three games.
If UK can beat Duquesne on Sunday, the Cats will likely take over the No. 1 spot in the polls after Duke's loss to Kansas. Should UK end up No. 1, it would be the sixth time in John Calipari's eight seasons at Kentucky the Wildcats have been ranked No. 1
As for the Dukes, they opened their current stretch with an 89-75 home win over Saint Francis U Wednesday, and followed that with a 78-77 last-second-loss Canisius at home on Friday.
Duquesne is in its fifth season under head coach Jim Ferry, who led the Dukes to 17 wins and a CBI appearance last year. They return two starters (Darius Lewis & Eric James) from that team.
Four of Duquesne’s top five scorers are first-year players. Leading scorer Tarin Smith (15.5 ppg.) is a first-year transfer from Nebraska, second and third-leading scorers Isiaha Mike (12.0 ppg.) & Mike Lewis II (9.0 ppg.) are freshmen and fifth-leading scorer,
Emile Blackman (8.3 ppg.) is a first-year grad transfer. The foursome has started all four games. Lexington, Ky. native Darius Lewis (6.8 ppg.) is the lone returnee in the current starting five.
Here is everything you will need to watch and follow UK host Duquesne.
Duquesne Dukes (2-2) at Kentucky Wildcats (3-0)
When: Nov. 20 at 9 p.m. ET
Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
TV: ESPNU
Channel: 208 on DirecTV; 141 on Dish Network
Live Online Stream: Watch ESPN
Announcers: Mike Morgan and Chris Spatola
Radio: UK Radio Network with Tom Leach and Mike Pratt
Satellite Radio: Sirius - 93 | XM - 190
Live stats: UK Athletics
Odds: UK is a 27-point favorite.
UK Roster:
No. 0 De'Aaron Fox, Point Guard, Freshman
No. 1 Sacha Killeya-Jones, Forward, Freshman
No. 3 Edrice ‘Bam’ Adebayo, Forward Freshman
No. 5 Malik Monk, Shooting Guard, Freshman
No. 10 Jonny David, Guard, Sophomore
No. 11 Mychal Mulder, Guard, Senior
No. 13 Isaiah Briscoe, Guard, Sophomore
No. 14 Tai Wynyard Forward, Redshirt Freshman
No. 15 Isaac Humphries, Forward, Sophomore
No. 20 Brad Calipari, Guard, Freshman
No. 25 Dominique Hawkins, Guard, Senior
No. 30 Dillon Pulliam, Guard, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 32 Wenyen Gabriel, Forward, Freshman
No. 35 Derek Willis, Forward, Senior
Here is a link to the Duquesne roster.
Prediction: This is usually a so-so game/performance for the Cats after playing in the Champions Classic. So much goes into that matchup with Duke/Michigan State/Kansas that the next game is typically a minor letdown for what’s normally a young and maturing team.
That said, Duquesne doesn’t have the firepower to push UK for 40 minutes, and I expect this to be a fairly easy win that may be plagued with a ‘meh’ first half. It doesn’t help that this is a late Sunday night game, one of the rarest spots a college team will play in.
Kentucky 80, Duquesne 61