Minnesota State will play a 'different style' compared to Kentucky's first exhibition opponent

Minnesota State should (hopefully) put up more of a fight than Kentucky’s first preseason opponent. The Wildcats never trailed last week in a 123-52 exhibition win over Kentucky Wesleyan at Rupp Arena. UK shot the lights out, ran the floor all night, and suffocated on defense. It was the perfect feel-good way to kick off the Mark Pope era, but it would also be nice to see his squad face a real challenge.

That’s where Minnesota State, the reigning Division II national champions, comes into play for the second of two exhibitions. The Mavericks come to Lexington on Tuesday night as the favorites to win its conference (NSIC) and among the handful of favorites to win another national title. Kyreese Willingham is one of the best all-around players in DII and he’ll start his senior season as a Player of the Year contender.

So yes, while Kentucky’s final preseason game will still come against a Division II opponent, this isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill, lower-leveled program. Minnesota State will bring some juice with them. The Wildcats’ goal is to keep performing up to their expectations and not down to their competition.

“Minnesota State is a really good team. They won the national championship for Division II,” Fifth-year guard Lamont Butler said during Monday’s media opportunity. “So for us to continue to not play to the competition but play to our standards.”

When Butler and fellow fifth-year player Andrew Carr met with reporters to preview tomorrow night’s exhibition, both already knew a thing or two about the Mavericks. Butler mentioned No. 1 (Willingham) and No. 23 (Justin Eagins, last season’s third-leading scorer for Minnesota State) as the players they’ve been focusing on during scouting and film sessions.

From a pure talent standpoint, Minnesota State is a notch (or two) above Kentucky Wesleyan. That alone can make for a more competitive atmosphere — which is exactly what the Wildcats want. They want some bumps in the road.

“They’re a little bit less reliant on their actions in their offense (than Kentucky Wesleyan),” Carr said of the Mavericks. “Have some really talented players who might be able to take you off the bounce a little bit more and things like that. Just a different kind of style for them. For us, it’s great. We’ll be able to play against two different teams, be able to play defense a little bit differently. Really get to test ourselves and do something different and be able to learn how to act, react, and respond like Coach always talks about.”

We can call it what it is: Kentucky Wesleyan was simply not a good basketball team. The team’s head coach even felt the need to apologize to Pope afterward for such a poor showing. A 71-point win was fun to witness, but what Kentucky needs is a test. Minnesota State should provide that. A primetime matchup against Duke is a little over two weeks away.

“We’re a new group and every day we’re continuing to grow,” Carr said. “Tommorrow is just another opportunity for that for us. Really excited to get to play against the best Division II team you possibly can for an exhibition game. They’re bringing back some good talented players. A little bit different style than Kentucky Wesleyan as well. For us, it’ll be a great test and we’re super excited to get out there and play again.”

Tipoff between Kentucky and Minnesota State is set for Tuesday night in Lexington at 7:00 p.m. on the SEC Network+.