Mark Pope and his newly assembled Kentucky men’s basketball team have their first exhibition game of the 2024-2025 season set as ESPN’s Myron Medcalf reported on Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) that the Cats will host Minnesota State in Rupp Arena on Oct. 29.
Minnesota State, a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) at the NCAA Division-II level, won the Division-II national title last season, defeating No. 1 seeded Nova Southeastern 88-85 in the national championship. The Mavericks capped their season off with a 35-2 overall record.
Minnesota State is led by Matt Margenthaler, who has been at the helm of the Mavericks since 2001. Through his time in the purple and yellow, Margenthaler has tallied over 400 wins and three NSIC Coach of the Year awards (2010, 2011, 2014).
In the past two seasons, under new Arkansas head coach John Calipari, Kentucky had played in some sort of summer tournament and as the Cats battled in the Bahamas in 2022 and, last summer, competed in the Globl Jam Tournament in Toronto.
This year, with no summer events barring new scheduling, the contest against Minnesota State will mark as the first real glimpse of the new Kentucky basketball era that fans will get to see.
Last Wednesday, the Cats scrimmaged La Familia, the Kentucky alumni team competing in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), and won 96-79, however the scrimmage was not broadcasted to the public, meaning the Minnesota State matchup will give fans a real feel of how Pope will guide this fresh team.
Future exhibitions and preseason events remain TBD.