WKU Basketball: Hilltoppers to Take on Kentucky Wednesday in Lexington

Christmas has truly come early as the Hilltoppers and Wildcats will meet in the regular season for the first time since 2001.

Fresh off their 10-point win over Louisville on Saturday, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will take on the University of Kentucky in men’s basketball Wednesday.

WKU and UK will tip off at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.

The game was scheduled after Wednesday’s scheduled game between the Wildcats and Cardinals was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the UofL program.

The matchup was announced during John Calipari’s radio show Monday. He says he reached out to Ohio State, Gonzaga and Texas but thought of WKU in light of the needs of western Kentucky following the tornados.

A matchup with the Wildcats is something WKU fans and administration have wanted for years. The two met in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64 in 2012 and haven’t met in the regular season since 2001, when the Tops took down the fourth-ranked Cats, 64-52.

The game will not only bring together two in-state teams (who should honestly be playing each other more often than three times a decade), it will also be used as a fundraiser to help with tornado recovery.

Wednesday marks the second time the Tops will take on the Cards and Cats in the same season, and the first since the 1990/91 campaign, when WKU played Louisville on 12/17 before playing UK on 12/21.

There are two more instances when WKU played both schools in the same calendar year: 2012 (vs. UK on 3/15, vs. UofL on 12/22) and 1986 (vs. UK on 3/16, vs. UofL on 12/10).

WKU was originally slated to travel to Austin Peay but, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, the Governors were “no longer capable of playing” the game.

Matt Norlander @MattNorlander

WKU was scheduled to play Austin Peay, but the Govs are no longer capable of playing that game, per sources, so that opened the door. Kentucky has already raised more than $4 million through the Red Cross for relief — should soar past $5 million with this game.

December 20th 2021

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The Wildcats are 8-2 this year, with the lone losses coming at the hands of Duke and Notre Dame. The Hilltoppers are 2-4 all-time against the Cats.