Kentucky Men Finalize Hoops Schedule with Tipoff Times and TV Designations
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 2026-27 Kentucky men’s basketball schedule has been finalized with the Southeastern Conference’s announcement of dates, tip times and television designations for all league games and selected nonconference games.
The Wildcats are slated to play 35 total games, 32 regular-season matchups and three exhibitions. Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center will be the site for 22 games, 10 are away games and there are neutral-site matchups against Kansas, Indiana and North Carolina. Kentucky will play 17 games, including two exhibitions, vs. teams that played in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky returns five players from its NCAA Tournament Round of 32 squad a year ago as Braydon Hawthorne, Malachi Moreno, Trent Noah, Reece Potter and Kam Williams are all back for the Wildcats. Moreno, an All-SEC Freshman Team selection, started 30 games for the Cats last season and led the team in rebounds per game (6.3), blocks per game (1.47) and field goal percentage (58.2%). Williams saw action in 24 games and made seven starts, despite missing 12 games with a broken foot. He matched the program’s record for most made 3s in a single game when he buried eight against Bellarmine. Noah appeared in 27 contests as a sophomore, twice scoring in double figures, including a career-high 16 points against Tennessee Tech. Both Hawthorne and Potter redshirted in 2025-26.
A well-regarded group of transfers also enters the fold for Kentucky in 2026-27, headlined by the nation’s leading 3-point shooter from a year ago, Milan Momcilovic. Momcilovic starred for Iowa State last season, averaging 16.9 points per game and making a school-record 136 3s while shooting 48.7 percent from deep. He was rated as a top-three transfer this offseason by ESPN, 247 Sports and On3. Joining Momcilovic in the transfer contingent are backcourt pieces Zoom Diallo, Jerone Morton and Alex Wilkins, along with frontcourt additions Franck Kepnang and Justin McBride. Wilkins and McBride were all-conference selections at Furman and James Madison, respectively, while Diallo and Kepnang both arrive from the University of Washington and Morton returns to his hometown of Lexington after a season at Washington State.
This year’s team also features a trio of college basketball newcomers in Zyon Hawthorne, Ousmane N’Diaye and Mason Williams. Zyon is the younger brother of Braydon and played his final high school season at Huntington Prep. N’Diaye hails from Dakar, Senegal and has experience playing in Europe, most recently with Vanoli Cremona in Italy’s top division. Williams, the son of UK assistant Mo Williams, averaged 15.1 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals at Tennessee Collegiate Academy as a senior.
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