Watching the Kentucky Wildcats play for Mark Pope has been pretty fun. Today we get another chance to see them in action when Bucknell travels to Lexington for a 4 pm EST tip-off at Rupp Arena.

Kentucky checked all of the right boxes in the season opener. The Wildcats assisted on 30 of 39 made field goals, scored 36 fast break points, and shot 60% from the field. Playing at that high of a level with consistency is a challenge, and it’s just one they’re acing today.

You probably did not have this game circled when you saw the schedule for the first time. There is a pretty big game coming up this Tuesday against Duke. Pope believes this look-ahead spot will provide an excellent test of his team’s mental fortitude.

“We talk about it before every game, ‘This is the biggest game we’ve ever played,’” Pope said earlier this week. “Two ways. One, it’s just the way we go about business. Everybody’s human, so we all can get distracted by all kind of things. We get distracted by things going wrong and things going right and things in the future and things in the past, right? In fact, all of the gravity as an athlete is trying to pull you away from being focused on right now.

“We practice this on a daily basis, about, can we just be here right now? And that’s going to also be a determining factor in how good we are as a team.”

How to Watch Kentucky vs. Bucknell

No. 23 Kentucky vs. Bucknell
4 p.m. ET | Saturday, Nov. 9 | Rupp Arena

• Television/Streaming: SECN+ (Andrew Kappes and Ravi Moss)
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 137 or 192
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tipoff, or join the conversation on KSBoard.

The KSR Pregame Show Previews Kentucky vs. Bucknell

There’s no better way to get ready for a Kentucky basketball game than by tuning into the KSR Pregame Show. Matt Jones, Drew Franklin, and Ryan Lemond are LIVE from KSBar and Grille, beginning at 3 pm EST. With a fun slate of college football games happening at the same time, it should be a lively atmosphere on South Broadway. Tune in on 630 WLAP, 840 WHAS in Louisville, to catch all of the action, or stream anywhere online.

Kentucky vs. Bucknell Against the Spread

The early money is on the Kentucky Wildcats. After opening as a 20.5-point favorite on Friday afternoon, that number has jumped up to Kentucky -23 on DraftKings with a total of 152.5. You can still get Kentucky -21.5 on FanDuel, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find any player props this early in the season. Bucknell and Kentucky have covered the spread in their three combined early-season matchups.

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 seven days and 50% off an entire year.

It’s the Nate Sestina Bowl

You can’t think of Bucknell Basketball without thinking of Nate Sestina. The man who created Cardinal Bird tears at Freedom Hall during this summer’s TBT actually started his career at Bucknell. A four-year player with Bison, he was an All-Patriot League player as a senior, averaging 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

He came off the bench in his one season in Lexington as a member of John Calipari’s 2019-20 team. Sestina’s best game was actually in a losing effort, knocking down five three-pointers and scoring 17 points against No. 5 Ohio State. The former Cat was kind enough to join Sources Say to preview today’s game.

Need more Kentucky basketball content? Zoom Action with Zack Geoghegan and Brandon Ramsey returns to break down all of the film from the first win of the Mark Pope Era.

Fun College Basketball Saturday

Even though most of the nation is paying close attention to a pair of big SEC Football games, the first college basketball Saturday of the season has a few exciting basketball games across the country.

Noon: #12 Tennessee at Louisville, ACCN
7:30: #8 Baylor vs. #16 Arkansas (in Dallas), ESPNU
7:30: Northwestern at Dayton, ESPN+
9:30: #11 Auburn at #4 Houston (Toyota Center), ESPNU

We had an exceptional slate of games on Friday night. No. 24 Ole Miss squeaked past Grambling, Richard Pitino’s New Mexico upset UCLA, and North Carolina-Kansas lived up to the hype with an exhilarating second half, ultimately resulting in a three-point Kansas win.