Tuesday Headlines: Helping Western Kentucky Edition

The entire state continues to make an impact.

By John Morgan Francis@MonJorgan Dec 21, 2021, 9:20am EST

The state of Kentucky continues to amaze with their outpour of support for the tornado victims in Western Kentucky. After the Louisville Cardinals were forced to pull out of their game against the Kentucky Wildcats on Wednesday due to COVID protocols, Kentucky tirelessly worked the phones to find a replacement for their primetime matchup.

While there were initial reports of Bellarmine as Louisville’s replacement, there were also rumblings of Gonzaga — last year’s runner-up in the National Championship — potentially coming to Rupp Arena. However, neither ended up being the team that Kentucky will play as a replacement. In fact, Kentucky will play the second best team in the state Wednesday night.

Sources: In light of losing its game vs. Louisville, Kentucky and Western Kentucky have agreed to come together to play a game on Wednesday that will also raise money for tornado relief funds throughout the region.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) December 20, 2021

Matt Norlander first reported the Wildcats will face the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Wednesday at 6 PM Eastern. Coverage will be provided by ESPN and the two programs will work together in orchestrating tornado relief funds for the western region of the state.

We're now headed to Lexington to face @KentuckyMBB at 5 p.m. CT Wednesday on ESPN.

UK Athletics is working on a charitable component from the game that will provide support for those who were affected by the Dec. 11 tornadoes.#GoTops https://t.co/VkAqRmdofA
— WKU Hilltopper Basketball (@WKUBasketball) December 20, 2021

WKU followed up with a confirmation that they indeed canceled their game with Austin Peay on Wednesday night to make this charitable opportunity happen while also giving themselves a chance to go play Kentucky at Rupp Arena.

… I know our fans were looking forward to the game with our intrastate rival. In lieu of that game, Western Kentucky and UK will come together to provide some relief for our state as we work through the tragedy of the last couple of weeks in Western Kentucky.
— Mitch Barnhart (@UKMitchBarnhart) December 21, 2021

Kentucky’s Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart took to Twitter to express his comments on Kentucky having to work through finding opponents for back-to-back games (UNC this past weekend in the CBS Sports Classic). While Kentucky won’t play their in-state rival during the week of Christmas, the charitable cause of the game largely outweighs the expected beatdown the Wildcats were ready to hand the Cardinals.

The last time Kentucky faced Western Kentucky was in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Kentucky of course won the matchup, 81-66, en route to their title run with Anthony Davis and company.