LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky Basketball team has released its schedule for 2021-'22, and it includes nine home games including a December 31st meeting with High Point, where they will honor the Panthers head coach Tubby Smith who led UK to the 1998 National Championship.
The Wildcats had previously announced Big Blue Madness on October 15 and the Blue White Game on October 22. Those are followed by two exhibitions. First against Kentucky Wesleyan on October 29. Then, the Wildcats will take on Miles College November 5. This is going to be the start of another match-up between the Wildcats and another conference made up of mostly Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Kentucky State is also in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The season opens for real on November 9, when the Wildcats travel to New York's Madison Square Garden to face Duke. This will be the final meeting against the Blue Devils with head coach Mike Krzyzewski because he will retire after the 2021-'22 season.
Kentucky's official home opener will take place on November 12 when the Wildcats host Robert Morris inside Rupp Arena. That will be followed by visits from two schools who made the NCAA Tournament last season, Mount St. Mary's and Ohio.
Kentucky stays in Rupp for the next four games against Albany, North Florida - which is led by former Lexington Christian forward Carter Hendrickson - followed by Central Michigan, coached by former assistant Tony Barbee, and finally Southern for the previously announced Unity Series. The Jaguars are led by former UK point guard and a member of the Unforgettables, Sean Woods. This is part of UK's new series against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The Wildcats then go on the road to face Notre Dame on December 11. The last time UK played in South Bend was 2012.
Kentucky will face another neutral game on December 18, when the Wildcats travel to Las Vegas to take on Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic.
The annual rivalry game with Louisville will take place on December 22, when UK hosts the Cardinals in Lexington.
Kentucky will play on New Year's Eve against High Point. The Panthers are led by former UK Coach Tubby Smith, and he will be honored for leading the Wildcats to the 1998 National Championship game.
On Dec. 31 we are going to host @HPUMBB and welcome back @CoachTubbySmith in @Rupp_Arena for the first time since his days as our coach. We are working on some ways to honor Tubby and his time here and I can’t wait to fill in the #BBN in the near future.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) August 30, 2021
The final non-conference game will take place in 2022 when Kentucky makes its first visit to Kansas since the Big 12/SEC Challenge in 2016.
Times and TV schedules will be released at a later date.
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