KSR GAMEDAY: Kentucky takes on Eastern Illinois in the BBN United Tipoff Classic finale

The ball is tipped, and there you are. You’re running for your life, you’re a shooting star. And all the years, no one knows just how hard you worked, but now it shows. In One Shining Moment in the BBN United Tipoff Classic Presented by Kentucky Tourism, it’s all on the line.

Get that ladder and those scissors ready, folks, we’ve got some nets to cut down at Rupp Arena on Friday. Sitting at 2-0 with two wins over Nicholls and Valparaiso with a point differential of plus-74, a victory over Eastern Illinois would secure the BUTCPBKT championship — rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it? Trophy presentation, confetti, all of the things that make multi-team events truly special. It’s coming your way at 7 p.m. ET, Cats vs. Panthers, live on SEC Network+. This is what dreams are made of.

Kentucky vs. Eastern Illinois: How to Watch, Listen

• 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

You can also follow along on the KSR LIVE BLOG, which will start a few hours before tipoff, and join the conversation on KSBoard.

Take advantage of our KSR+ Introductory Offer to get bonus coverage of the Cats, including game threads, in-depth scouting reports, and the latest recruiting and roster intel. $1 for a week.

Cats open as MASSIVE favorites

Any concern about letting one become two this week coming off the deflating loss at Louisville? The oddsmakers don’t see it that way, listing Kentucky as a 38.5-point favorite, according to our friends at BetMGM, with a total of 150.5. That’s a projected final score of 94.5-56.

KenPom is predicting a final score of 90-58 while Bart Torvik is calling for an 89-59 victory for the good guys.

Mark Pope prepares for “really good team” in EIU

The Panthers may be ranked No. 312 nationally by KenPom and they’ve never beaten a ranked opponent (0-26 all-time), but that doesn’t mean the Wildcats are expecting a pushover at Rupp Arena on Friday. Like every game at home, they’ll be getting their opponent’s best.

“Really good team,” Mark Pope said of EIU on Thursday. “They beat Nicholls, they challenged Notre Dame, gave Notre Dame a good challenge. They’re really an incredibly disciplined team. They run their actions, they screen and cut and move, and it makes sense.

“They can shoot the ball, they have some really aggressive scorers. They have some length and physicality. They’re a really good team and it’s gonna be a great challenge for us Friday. It’ll be a great challenge.”

A lifelong Kentucky fan starts for the Panthers

Zion Fruster leads the team with 16.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest as a senior, followed by Kooper Jacobi with 11.7 points and 5.7 rebounds and Preston Turner with 10.7 points and 2.7 rebounds to round out double-figure scorers. There is another name to keep an eye on, though, and maybe even quietly root for — assuming Kentucky is winning big, of course.

Meechie White, a native of Louisville and a Male High School graduate, is averaging 5.3 points in 18 minutes per outing as a junior. He’s actually a lifelong member of Big Blue Nation, growing up dreaming of suiting up for the Wildcats as a kid and regularly attending games at Rupp.

Now, he’ll be competing against the Cats at Rupp — certainly an awesome full-circle moment for the junior guard.

So, what’s the deal with Jaland Lowe?

Speaking of junior guards, Kentucky’s got an issue on its hands with theirs, Lowe going down in practice again on Thursday, sources tell KSR, reinjuring the shoulder he hurt during the Blue-White Game several weeks back.

That came just hours after Pope talked about the Pittsburgh transfer’s recovery returning from the last one, suiting up in two games after missing both exhibitions and the season opener vs. Nicholls.

“He’s got a lot of soreness I think in his whole body, but I think he’s fine,” he said. “I think he’s in good shape.”

His status would change shortly after, and now, we wait for the official update from Kentucky.

Don’t expect him to suit up against Eastern Illinois, though.

Want more Kentucky basketball intel? Join KSR Plus for access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

We still don’t know what happened before Louisville

“It is incredibly, massively painful. It’s haunting. It sits in your gut and makes you want to vomit in your mouth — all those totally natural reactions.”

That’s how Pope felt after the Louisville loss — just like all of us. But apparently things got weird before the game to lead to that feeling, and we still don’t know what any of it means.

“I actually think we did a — you know, I’m not ready to tell the story yet, but at some point, we’ll talk in detail about our pregame experience at Louisville,” Pope said. “It was out of character for us and that’s young and new. I actually don’t want to keep our emotions in check, I just want to keep them focused and I want to keep them intentional.”

Mark Pope says Kentucky was 'out of character' at Louisville — starting with a bad pregame experience that he isn't ready to talk about yet 🤔

READ: https://t.co/Qts5CEdxZz pic.twitter.com/L3BFu2MfIX

— KSR (@KSRonX) November 13, 2025

Was there a fight? Did players get into it with fans? Not taking the rivalry seriously enough? Not being ready to tell the story allows people to fill the void with their own speculation and rumors. Why bring it up at all with zero context if you’re not going to get out in front of it with the truth?

Couldn’t be happier to move on from that disaster at the Yum! Center. It starts with a win tonight over Eastern Illinois before our next name-brand foe next week, Michigan State in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden.