Three reasons Kentucky will beat Purdue in the exhibition game on Friday

The best way to prepare for the beginning of the college basketball season is to play an exhibition game, and the Kentucky Wildcats will do just that on Friday. It won't be just any exhibition as Mark Pope's team will host the #1 team in college basketball, the Purdue Boilermakers, in Rupp Arena.

Both Kentucky and Purdue are teams capable of making a run to the Final Four, so this has an April game type of feel before the season even starts. While the exhibition games don't count towards these teams' record for the season, there is no doubt that both of these teams want to win.

Let's take a look at three reasons why the Kentucky Wildcats are going to win this basketball game.

Three reasons Kentucky will beat Purdue

Kentucky is more well-rounded on each end of the floor

Oct 14, 2025; Birmingham, AL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

There is no denying that this Purdue basketball team has the best offense in all of college basketball. Braden Smith is the player that many believe will be the Player of the Year in college basketball this season, and his offense is elite. While the Boilermakers do have a lot of offensive weapons, they won't be elite on defense. KenPom has Purdue's offense ranked number one overall, but its defense is ranked 29th. Kentucky is in the top ten on both sides of the floor in KenPom. This means if Kentucky plays well on defense, they will be able to score the basketball.

Otega Oweh makes his case for Player of the Year

All offseason, Braden Smith has been the talk of the nation, and while this has been happening, Otega Oweh has been flying under the radar. Folks in the college basketball world don't seem to have any kind of confidence that the Wildcats' superstar Oweh is going to have any shot to win Player of the Year. Against this Purdue defense that shouldn't be great, it isn't crazy to think that Oweh will put up big numbers to start his POTY campaign.

Rupp Arena will play a role

The good news for the Wildcats is that this game is going to be played in Rupp Arena. Big Blue Nation is chomping at the bit to fill the seats of Rupp Arena and watch this team play. Adding the fact that they will be taking on the #1 teams in the nation on a Friday night, Rupp Arena is going to be a very tough place to play. Kentucky fans are going to make sure that this home-court advantage is large for the Wildcats in this game.