The #8th ranked Kentucky Wildcats (4-1) travel to South Bend, Indiana to play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-1) in the SEC/Big East Challenge on ESPN2 at 7pm.
The announcers for tonight’s game are Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale. The sideline reporter is Andy Katz.
Notre Dame is currently favored by 1 point.
You can also watch the game online at ESPN3.com and FirstRowSports.
Here is the background on tonight’s game:
This will be Notre Dame’s second appearance in the SEC/BIG EAST Challenge. In 2010, Notre Dame and Kentucky met at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., with the Wildcats taking home a 72-58 win.
The Wildcats have rolled up a 3-0 mark over the last three years in the SEC/Big East Challenge/Invitational.
This year’s matchup will be the 61st meeting between the two teams with Kentucky owning a 42-18 advantage in the series. The Wildcats’ last visit to Purcell Pavilion was on March 25, 2009, in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament and the Irish snapped a 10-game losing streak to Kentucky with a 77-67 victory.
Over the last three games, Kentucky has burned up the nets shooting at a blistering 62.0 percent clip. The Cats shooting prowess was highlighted against LIU Brooklyn, hitting 67.7 from the field. It was the highest field goal percentage for UK in the Calipari era and the highest since UK posted a 68.7 mark in 2008-09 against Kansas State.
The 2010 Notre Dame-Kentucky showdown is the only previous meeting between Brey and John Calipari during their head coaching careers.
John Calipari is 52-22 all-time against schools from the Big East. Calipari has faced Louisville (10-5) and Rutgers (11-4) the most often during his career.
Notre Dame is 45-0 at home in the month of November under head coach Mike Brey. As a program, the Fighting Irish have won 48 straight home contests in November. Notre Dame’s last home loss in November was a 76-65 setback to Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 13, 1998.
PROJECTED STARTERS*
Kentucky Wildcats
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
F 3 Nerlens Noel 12.4 8.6 3.6^
• Leads team in rebounds, steals and blocks
G 10 Archie Goodwin 19.0 5.2 4.4
• Reached double-igure scoring in all ive games
F 22 Alex Poythress 18.4 7.4 0.2
• Four-straight 20+ point efforts
F 33 Kyle Wiltjer 12.6 4.2 2.6
• Career-high seven 3-pointers vs. Lafayette
G 34 Julius Mays 9.0 1.8 4.4
• Leads team with 22 assists on the year
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
G 00 Eric Atkins 10.3 3.3 6.7
• Had 13 points and 11 assists vs. Chicago State
G 14 Scott Martin 8.2 8.0 1.6
• Second on the team in rebounds per game
G 22 Jerlan Grant 13.0 1.6 4.7
• Led the team with 22 points vs. Chicago State
F 24 Pat Connaughton 8.0 4.3 2.9
• Made a team-high 13 3-pointers in 2012-13
F 45 Jack Cooley 14.3 11.3 1.9^
• Team’s leading scorer and rebounder
*-Based on previous game’s starters; ^-blocks; ~-steals
