Gonzaga, Kentucky schedule nonconference game for December

Any doubts that the Gonzaga-Kentucky multi-year series wouldn’t go on following a massive coaching change were put to rest on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs and Wildcats will meet for the third installment of a six-year series on Dec. 7 in Seattle, sources confirmed to Gonzaga Nation after the news was first reported by Jon Rothstein. Gonzaga won the previous two head-to-head meetings: 88-72 in Spokane on Nov. 11, 2022, and 89-85 at Rupp Arena this past season.

There was some concern over the future of the nonconference series after former Kentucky coach John Calipari, a good friend of Mark Few, agreed to be the next coach of the Arkansas men’s basketball program in April. The Wildcats hired BYU coach Mark Pope to take the reins shortly after Calipari’s departure. Pope was a member of the 1996 national championship team at Kentucky.

As a coach, Pope went 1-7 against the Zags when the Cougars were a member of the West Coast Conference.

Gonzaga pulled off the upset on the road against No. 17 Kentucky in February behind 23 points from Graham Ike. Anton Watson delivered a few clutch baskets to finish with 17 points, while Nolan Hickman drilled a pair of free throws late to seal the win and ended with 17 points himself. Braden Huff had 12 points off the bench.

The Bulldogs are expected to look mostly the same for round three against the Wildcats — Mark Few is bringing back six of his top seven scorers from last season, including four of five probable starters. Gonzaga also added 6-foot-7 wing Michael Ajayi (Pepperdine), 6-foot-5 grad transfer Khalif Battle (Arkansas) and 6-foot-5 wing Emmanuel Innocenti (Tarleton State) from the transfer portal.

Kentucky, meanwhile, will look completely different from last season’s meeting. In fact, according to the official team page, the Wildcats don’t roster a single player from that February game in Lexington, Kentucky.

Pope has built his new team from the ground up, namely in the transfer portal — an area Calipari didn’t favor as much. The Wildcats have the No. 4 transfer portal class in the country according to Evan Miya, headlined by 6-foot-11 Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr (No. 36 transfer on Evan Miya). Oklahoma transfer and 6-foot-5 guard Otega Oweh (No. 42), West Virginia transfer Kerr Kriisa (No. 64) and San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler (No. 67) join the ranks as well.

Gonzaga's nonconference schedule for the upcoming season appears loaded once again. The Bulldogs will take part in the Battle 4 Atlantis, which includes the likes of Arizona, Louisville, Indiana West Virginia, Oklahoma and Davidson (Creighton reportedly pulled out of the event) and will face UCLA in Inglewood, California, as well as UConn at Madison Square Garden (Dec. 14). An away game at San Diego State is also scheduled to take place at some point.