LIVE BLOG: Kentucky vs. Eastern Illinois
It’s finally here: the finale of the BBN United Tipoff Classic, presented by Kentucky Tourism. KSR’s LIVE BLOG will bring you the sights and sounds from Rupp Arena as Kentucky hosts Eastern Michigan (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+).
The loss to Louisville and the news about Jaland Lowe’s shoulder have cast a shadow over the BBN this week. A win over Eastern Illinois, which is 1-2 so far this season, probably won’t do much to ease concerns moving forward, but it should put a smile on our faces. It’s also a good opportunity for the Cats to bounce back from Tuesday’s loss, tinker with some new lineups, and get right before next week’s game vs Michigan State in the Champions Classic.
Refresh the feed below for updates and KSR’s takes on the game from Rupp Arena and the couch. You can also join the conversation on the KSBoard Game Thread or by texting your observations to 859-710-3556 (standard messaging rates apply).
Special thanks to our live blog sponsor this season, Friends of Coal.
Friends of Coal is dedicated to informing and educating Kentucky citizens about the coal industry and its vital role in the state’s future. We provide a united voice for an industry that has been and remains a critical economic contributor to Kentucky. By working together, we can provide good jobs and benefits for future generations. Coal is RESILIENT, RELIABLE, and AFFORDABLE.
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Programming update
11/14/2025 08:03:25 PMNormally, the guys are outside of Rupp Arena by now to do a Rapid Reaction. With a potentially newsworthy Mark Pope press conference about to happen, we’re pushing the RR back a bit so they can be in the room where it happens. Don’t worry, the Rapid Reaction is coming, just a little later than usual.
FINAL: Kentucky 99, Eastern Illinois 53
11/14/2025 07:49:57 PMWalker Horn could have taken Kentucky across the century mark, but his three-pointer at the buzzer was no good. Kentucky still beat Eastern Illinois by 46 points, the perfect bounce-back game after the loss to Louisville.
Mo Diouvate led all scorers with 20 points and 11 rebounds, his first double-double as a Wildcat and the seventh of his career. Four other Wildcats finished in double figures: Denzel Aberdeen (13), Otega Oweh (12), Andrija Jelavic (11), and Malachi Moreno (11). Kentucky shot 60.9% from the floor and 36% (9-25) from three-point range, while holding Eastern Illinois to 32.7% shooting.
Next up: Michigan State in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night. First, we’ll wait for Mark Pope’s comments, which hopefully include an update on Jaland Lowe.
Jasper Johnson is filling up the stat sheet
11/14/2025 07:46:03 PMMark Pope said Jasper Johnson would be Denzel Aberdeen’s backup at point guard while Jaland Lowe is out. In the second half, Jasper has looked great. He’s now up to 8 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds. As those numbers indicate, he’s doing a little bit of everything.
Matthew Bradford spoke to the team today
11/14/2025 07:44:10 PMIf you’re watching the game on SEC Network+, you heard Andrew Kappes and Ravi Moss talk about Marine veteran Matthew Bradford’s visit with the team today. If you want to see more than the short clip, UK put out a video earlier this afternoon on Twitter. Bradford is an inspiration to us all.
Kentucky 88, Eastern Illinois 46 – 3:38 2H
11/14/2025 07:40:16 PMGet the champagne out, folks. Kentucky leads Eastern Illinois by 42 with three and a half minutes to go. Everything’s firing on all cylinders right now, including this Jasper Johnson to Andrija Jelavic connection.
Jaland Lowe is excited:
Mo Dioubate has a double-double
11/14/2025 07:35:03 PMIt’s official: Mo Dioubate has his first double-double as a Kentucky Wildcat. Diobuate is up to 20 points and 11 rebounds, his first double-double since Alabama’s win over Robert Morris in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. It’s the seventh double-double of his career. Congrats, Mo!
Kentucky 81, Eastern Illinois 40 – 5:32 2H
Kentucky 74, Eastern Illinois 36 – 7:21 2H
11/14/2025 07:29:59 PMThe good times continue at Rupp Arena. The lead is up to 38 points. Mo Dioubate continues to be the star, now up to 18 points on 7-8 from the field, 4-5 from the free-throw line. He also has nine rebounds, making him one shy of a double-double.
The Cats are shooting 64.7% this half. For the game, they’re outrebounding the Panthers 43-16, with 40 points in the paint to EIU’s 12.
I think Kentucky’s gonna win the game, folks.
Sorry kids, no 6-7
11/14/2025 07:24:49 PMThere are few things kids love more than the 6-7 meme, to the point they lose their minds when scores reach that number during basketball games. A group of very excited kids were anxiously waiting for Kentucky to score its 67th point at Rupp Arena tonight…only for Kam Williams to hit a three and skip over 67 for 68. Sorry, kids. Maybe next time.
Kentucky wins a coach’s challenge
11/14/2025 07:18:16 PMCoach’s challenges did not go well for Kentucky on Tuesday night. Tonight, they’re 1-0 in that category, winning the challenge over this out-of-bounds call. Look at that hustle by Trent Noah!
Kentucky 65, Eastern Illinois 24 – 11:44 2H
Kentucky 60, Eastern Illinois 23 – 14:47 2H
11/14/2025 07:11:12 PMThe Cats continue to cruise at the first media timeout of the second half. They’re on a 7-0 run, hitting their last four field goals while holding Eastern Illinois scoreless over the last 2:26.
Mo Dioubate continues to own his mismatch inside, up to 14 points now, while Denzel Aberdeen has hit both of his field goals this half, including a three. Good times.
Otega Oweh starts the 2nd half off strong
11/14/2025 07:01:50 PMOtega Oweh only scored two points in the first half, but he’s off to a hot start in the second, scoring back-to-back buckets to push Kentucky’s lead to 32. Hopefully, that means Good Oweh is back.
Kentucky 51, Eastern Illinois 19 – 18:39 2H
HALFTIME: Kentucky leads Eastern Illinois by a million
11/14/2025 06:45:24 PMKentucky 47, Eastern Illinois 19. It’s a 28-point lead at the break, and even that feels like we’re short-changing the Wildcats’ dominance through 20 minutes.
Mo Dioubate leads the way with 10 points on 4-5 shooting with six rebounds and a block in 11 minutes, followed by Malachi Moreno with nine points and three rebounds, Trent Noah with eight points, Brandon Garrison with six, Collin Chandler with four, Jasper Johnson and Andrija Jelavic with three apiece, Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen with two and Kam Williams the only player held scoreless.
The Wildcats are shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three compared to just 24.1 percent overall and 27.3 percent from deep for the Panthers. JT Elder is the only EIU player with multiple buckets in the first half.
Kentucky is outrebounding Eastern Illinois 31-10. That’s an insane number.
This small-ball lineup is the good stuff
11/14/2025 06:42:49 PMWe wanted to see some fun experimental stuff with lineups tonight with Jaland Lowe out, and we got just that to close out the first half — a small-ball look that saw Croatian Sensation 2.0 taking over at the five.
That group: Denzel Aberdeen, Jasper Johnson, Trent Noah, Kam Williams and Andrija Jelavic.
It was a plus-one in 1:08, for those keeping track at home.
HEY LOOK! YouTube TV has ESPN and ABC again!
11/14/2025 06:42:03 PMA deal has been reached between Disney and Google to bring ESPN/ABC back to YouTube TV. How about that?!
Folks, Eastern Illinois hasn’t scored in five minutes
11/14/2025 06:38:00 PMKentucky is not being tested much tonight. The Wildcats are on an 10-0 run, but that’s over a five-minute period — not super efficient offensively, but that also means the Panthers haven’t scored a single point in five minutes, either.
Mo Dioubate leads the way with 10 points and six rebounds, followed by Malachi Moreno, Brandon Garrison and Trent Noah with six points apiece.
Welcome back, Trent Noah! You’ve been missed!
11/14/2025 06:24:11 PMKentucky sure could’ve used that shooting against Louisville, eh? The Mountain Mamba, who hasn’t played since the season opener vs. Nicholls, entered the game and immediately hit a pair of 3-pointers to push the lead to 17 points, now up 32-15. It’s in the middle of a 13-2 run with eight players now scoring for the blue and white — Noah joining Mo Dioubate and Brandon Garrison with six each.
This dunk from Denzel was pretty fun, too.
Look at that ball movement!
11/14/2025 06:15:55 PMTrent Noah and Andrija Jelavic entered the game and quickly banged two 3-pointers to put Kentucky back up by 12. How? Good ball movement, of course. Noah’s was particularly pretty, a trio of passes finding the wide-open Wildcat in the corner for an easy look. It didn’t take as much to find Jelavic, just a single pass over from Jasper Johnson, but he made the most of it.
First subs: Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno
11/14/2025 06:11:03 PMHow is Pope handling the new rotation with Jaland Lowe out indefinitely? The Kentucky boys are the first two players off the bench, Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno making their initial appearances after the first TV timeout.
It didn’t take long for Johnson to find the bottom of the net.
On the other end, though, EIU has made its last three 3-pointers to put some points on the board, now down 19-11 with 13 minutes to go in the first half.
Kentucky is on a 10-0 run (and EIU might not be good)
11/14/2025 06:07:02 PMThey are who we thought they were? Kentucky has made its last five baskets and is currently on a 10-0 run over the last two-plus minutes. For Eastern Illinois, the Panthers have missed their last four and aren’t providing much pushback…
Brandon Garrison has a quick six points on 3-3 shooting, followed by Mo Dioubate with four and Otega Oweh with two points and two rebounds.
Longtime Kentucky fan Meechie White is the only player on the board for EIU — just as we like it.
The ball is tipped!
11/14/2025 05:59:51 PMMo Dioubate gets us rolling with a quick dunk and we’re off at Rupp Arena!
If you don’t love the BBN United Tipoff Classic Presented by Kentucky Tourism, you don’t love basketball.
Starting Lineups
11/14/2025 05:49:22 PMKentucky’s sticking with the same starting lineup tonight. As he has all season, Denzel Aberdeen will start at point guard. Judging by Pope’s pregame comments, Jasper Johnson will be the backup option at point.
Kentucky
- 00 Otega Oweh
- 1 Denzel Aberdeen
- 5 Collin Chandler
- 10 Brandon Garrison
- 23 Mo Dioubate
Eastern Illinois
- 3 Meechie White
- 11 Malik Olafioye
- 7 Prince Johnson
- 24 Terry McMorris
- 40 Kooper Jacobi
Lowe will not play tonight, Pope confirms
11/14/2025 05:28:04 PMDuring his pregame conversation with Tom Leach, Mark Pope confirmed that Jaland Lowe will not play tonight vs. Eastern Illinois.
“Jaland tweaked his shoulder again yesterday, so we’re in the process of kind of figuring out what the next move is.”
Denzel Aberdeen is expected to start at point guard tonight. Pope said that Kentucky has several options after Aberdeen, starting with Jasper Johnson, who will “serve us great at the one,” along with Collin Chandler and even Otega Oweh.
“It’s devastating in the sense of, you work so hard to give yourself a chance, and then — injuries are the worst,” Pope said of how Lowe is handling the setback. “They’re tough, and so there’s nothing he can do about it, but work as hard as he can to get healthy as soon as he can, and then move forward, but it’s tough. He’s the last person in the world who wants to miss [games].”
Jaland Lowe sighting
11/14/2025 05:05:14 PMLowe is at Rupp watching warmups. During the pregame show, Cameron Mills said Lowe will not play tonight after “retweaking” his right shoulder during yesterday’s practice. We should hear more from Mark Pope during his pregame conversation with Tom Leach.
Pregame Walk and Talk
11/14/2025 04:52:17 PMJoin the KSR crew as they walk to Rupp. Not only will you get to see the scene in downtown Lexington ahead of tipoff, but you’ll get to hear the latest on Jaland Lowe’s shoulder.
How to Watch, Listen
11/14/2025 12:34:35 PMBoth tonight’s basketball game and tomorrow’s football game vs. Tennessee Tech are on SEC Network+, aka “on the computer.” If you’re a YouTubeTV subscriber, it could be especially difficult to follow along, as Google’s dispute with Disney drags on. If you don’t want to subscribe to ESPN Unlimited, there are some options. You can get a five-day trial to FuboTV or DirecTV Stream, or a day or weekend pass from Sling that includes access to SEC Network+. Or, you can hope someone streams it for free on YouTube.
- Tipoff: 7:00 p.m. ET
- TV: SEC Network+ (Andrew Kappes, Ravi Moss)
- Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
- AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
- FM: 98.1 WBUL
- Online: iHeart Radio
- Sirius XM: 210 or 190
If you’re not sure how to access SEC Network+, Steven Peake is here to help you out.
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