UK Opens 2026-27 Season at Home; Wildcats Will Face Manhattan

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky men’s basketball program announced seven home nonconference games to its 2026-27 slate earlier this week. UK will begin the 2026-27 season at home with a first-time opponent in Manhattan on Nov. 3.

Additional home dates include:

• 6 vs. James Madison

• 13 vs. Northern Arizona

• 16 vs. Grambling State

• 8 vs. Bryant

• 22 vs. Sacred Heart

• 28 vs. Gardner-Webb

Television designations and tip times will be announced at a later date. With the seven additional games, UK now has announced 12 nonconference contests for the 2026-27 season, the third under head coach Mark Pope.

In addition to Manhattan, Kentucky will also take on first-time opponents in James Madison, Northern Arizona, Grambling State, Bryant and Sacred Heart. It will mark the second ever meeting with Gardner-Webb.

Malachi Moreno (File Photo)

James Madison is coached by Preston Spradlin who was a part of Kentucky’s staff from 2009-2014 before becoming an assistant coach and then a head coach at Morehead State. Spradlin and the Eagles traveled to Rupp Arena for the start of the 2020-21 season and the Cats earned an 81-45 win in the only prior meeting with the former staffer.

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-Southeastern Conference 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 six 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 is the son of UK assistant Mo Williams, and averaged 15.1 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals at Tennessee Collegiate Academy as a senior.