The University of Kentucky has played 2,662 official men's basketball games (with a record of 2,024-638-1), but has never played a game in the state of Oregon. That will change tonight, when the Cats go to the Rose Garden in Portland to take on the University of Portland Pilots. Last year the Pilots, who play in the West Coast Conference, went 21-11. This year, they are 3-0, with wins over Wisconsin-Milwaukee (80-60), UC-Davis (75-60), and Florida Atlantic (89-75). The game will be at 10:30 EST, and will be broadcast on ESPNU. The invaluable Ken Pomeroy picks UK to win 73-65, while Vegas has made Kentucky a 6 1/2 point favorite. We will hope that these experts are correct.
The Cats and the Pilots have met only once before. On December 22, 1989, they met in the semi-finals of the University of Kentucky Invitational Tournament ("U.K.I.T."), with Kentucky winning 88-71. It was only the seventh game Rick Pitino had ever coached for the Big Blue. The next night, Kentucky lost the U.K.I.T. championship to SW Louisiana in overtime by the score of 116-113 (the most points Kentucky has ever scored in a loss). Soon afterward, Pitino announced that he wanted to end the U.K.I.T. (which had been played every year since 1953). So that tournament was the last U.K.I.T. ever played, and the game against Portland was the last game UK ever won in the tournament.
Kentucky's all-time record in games played on November 19 is 3-1.
I want to point out that even though our old friend Bruce Pearl received an eight-game suspension from the SEC today -- meaning that he will be unable to coach in the first eight SEC games of this season -- that suspension will end in time for him to coach both games against UK. Thanks, SEC!
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