Mark Pope spent Tuesday night talking up Preston Spradlin, and now Kentucky gets its first home test of the season against the James Madison coach he knows well. The No. 23 team returns to Rupp Arena on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network after an 85-57 win over Manhattan.
Spradlin and Pope
“I do think Preston Spradlin is one of the great human beings in the coaching profession,” Pope said following Tuesday’s win. “He’s a heck of a coach, man. He’s a big-time coach. He’s a better person.”
He added, “We’ve had a chance over the last few years to have some really, really long basketball-based and spiritually based conversations.” That relationship gives this matchup a sharper edge than a routine nonconference game, because the opposing coach is not just another name on the schedule.
Kentucky’s opening numbers
Kentucky’s opener gave Pope a few concrete reasons to like where the offense is headed. Milan Momcilovic scored 24 points and made six of nine shots from behind the arc, while Zoom Diallo added 12 points and Alex Wilkins posted 11 points, seven steals and five assists.
The team also shot 32 of 60 from the floor and 12 of 31 from three-point range. Those totals suggest a rotation that already has multiple ways to create points, with perimeter shooting and pressure defense doing most of the early work.
James Madison after halftime
James Madison arrives after an 86-77 loss to Miami (Ohio), a game it led at halftime before Miami (Ohio) scored 51 points in the second half. Paul Jones III led James Madison with 14 points, so Kentucky is meeting a team that showed it can get in front early even if it could not hold that edge.
That makes the first home game less about ceremony than adjustment: Kentucky has already seen one opponent, and James Madison has already shown it can compete for a half before the game turns. The real answer now is whether Pope’s group can carry its opener’s shot-making and ball pressure into a tighter, more revealing test in Rupp Arena.
