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Kentucky Prepares for Duke in Season Opener Tuesday

Posted at 6:55 PM, Nov 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-04 19:43:49-05

Lexington, Ky. (LEX 18) — The regular season opener for the Kentucky men’s basketball team is approaching, with a tough matchup right out of the gate.

The No. 2 ranked Wildcats will face No. 4 ranked Duke Tuesday night in the Champions Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.

Kentucky is still looking to figure out what type of team they can be with so many options to put out on the floor.

“Where are we right now? I have no idea to be honest with you. I have no idea,” said UK Head Coach John Calipari. “This will be one where hopefully a couple of guys stand out and we’ve had it before in these events where certain guys went and you got to see them. We’re still going at our pace, I didn’t change anything and try to speed stuff up because we’re playing this game, this is the pace we go and if it’s not in and we do something we’re not used to, they start switching everything they do, some crazy zone where we’re not ready.”

This is also a matchup that has a lot of talent on the floor. Duke and Kentucky are first and second, respectively, in this year’s recruiting class.

“If you have social media or watch ESPN you got a good sense as far as who they have on their team. They have a lot of fire power and a lot of star players,” said UK Forward Reid Travis. “A lot of respect for their recruiting class and who they’ve brought in. They also have some veterans and I just know how their coaching staff prepares guys and how they recruit, and the type of guys they bring in so I got a lot of respect the team and the program that they have there and I know it’s going to be a tough task for us. It’s going to push us and I don;t think we could’ve asked for anything more for our first game.”

Tip-off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. November 6th.