Kentucky Beat: Keys to the Game Friday night vs. Purdue Boilermakers

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope hasn’t minced words about how he and his team are approaching Friday night’s Exhibition game against the Purdue Boilermakers, the Preseason No. 1 team in the AP Poll. If Kentucky is playing a game —even if it’s “just” an exhibition game —it matters. This is Kentucky Basketball, the gold standard of College Basketball.

“This is an incredibly important data collection moment for us, and it’s unbelievable that we get to do this against this Purdue team and Matt (Painter),” Pope said Thursday. “If he’s not the best coach in college basketball, he’s got to be right up there.”

Pope was asked whether this team would try to win this game Friday night rather than tinkering with lineups, and his answer was quick and direct.

“Yes. The answer is yes, especially with this group,” Pope said. “The group is just hard-wired that way.”

Purdue is ranked No. 1 for a reason. They brought back their top five scorers from last season, a season in which they nearly upset No. 1 seed and national runners-up Houston in the Sweet 16 —they lost on a last-second shot, 62-60. Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn form an elite scoring tandem, but don’t overlook third wheel Fletcher Loyer.

This is a Boilermakers’ team that is athletic and big. Again, this game doesn’t “count” in the standings, but it’s still a great opportunity for the Wildcats to see how their expectedly much more athletic team this season matches up with Preseason No. 1 Purdue.

“For us, you get this chance to go get this really in-depth look at who we are right now,” Pope said. “And so we’re going to take full advantage of that while doing everything we can to win, but still not leave anything on the table in terms of learning about ourselves.”

Let’s look at the Keys to the Game and my Score Prediction for Friday night at Rupp Arena.

Keys to the Game

1. On-ball defense
Braden Smith’s 313 assists last season were just over half of Purdue’s 574 in 36 games. The Boilermakers’ 15.9 assists per game ranked 41st in the country.

It’s clear this Boilermakers’ team is one of the best ball-distributing teams in the country.

Kentucky, on the other hand, ranked outside the top 150 in the country in steals per game at just 6.9. With a more athletic team, that number beckons to increase this season.

Friday night will be a good test for this Wildcats team to see how well they can pressure the ball against arguably the best point guard in the country, Braden Smith.

2. Taking care of the ball
This is a key for every game. The Wildcats averaged 10.9 turnovers per game last season, while Purdue’s opponents averaged 11.6 turnovers per game. Playing without Jaland Lowe, taking care of the ball will be paramount for this entire Wildcats team, especially their young backcourt and backup point guards.

3. Rebounding
Kentucky was a terrific rebounding team in 2024-2025, averaging 38 per game. The problem was that the Wildcats also allowed 35.3 rebounds per game.

Purdue wasn’t a great rebounding team, but Kentucky can’t give Purdue extra possessions with an offense that can move the ball around and one that has three really good scorers on the floor for most of the game.

The Wildcats will need to impose their will on the glass to win this game.

4. Offensive Efficiency
Like rebounding, offensive efficiency was a strength of Kentucky’s in Mark Pope’s first season as the Wildcats’ head coach. Kentucky was No. 7 in the country with 84.4 points per game.

Purdue was No. 85 in the country at 77.3 points per game.

However, the Boilermakers’ defense allowed 70.4 points per game compared to Kentucky’s 77.2. That’s why offensive efficiency is so paramount on Friday night for the Wildcats. The Wildcats will not only need to keep up with Purdue’s offense, but they will also need to score efficiently against a good Purdue defense.

Score Prediction: Boilermakers 83 – Wildcats 76
I’m expecting this game to be really close, and it could be a fun, back-and-forth, competitive matchup between two teams that very well could meet again in the last weekend of March and the first weekend of April.

Playing without Jaland Lowe, though, could be problematic for the Wildcats going up against Braden Smith and an elite, experienced Purdue backcourt. Kentucky’s roster looks more athletic on paper, and Friday night will be the first on-court look against another opponent to see how much more athletic it really is.

I’m predicting Purdue to seal the game in the final few minutes with clutch shooting, but I’m also expecting the Wildcats to play a competitive, athletic game that will show that they are to be taken as serious Final Four and National Championship contenders. Again, it may be “just” an Exhibition game. But to Mark Pope and the Wildcats, this game does count.