The college basketball preseason exhibition slate is set for another packed Tuesday night of action nationwide. While these exhibition games aren’t counted in the official records, they allow fans to get a sneak peek at what’s in store for the upcoming season, along with providing coaches with useful tryouts for their rosters for the real games next week.
From UConn to Kansas to Louisville, there are plenty of top-notch games for basketball lovers to choose from tonight. Below are five intriguing exhibition games supposed to take place today.
UConn vs. Michigan
No. 4 UConn will be hosting No. 22 Michigan State at Peoples Bank Arena in Hartford for this clash, which is slated to begin at 7:30 pm.
Dan Hurley’s Huskies are fresh off a solid 71-52 exhibition win versus Boston College last week, while the Spartans make the trip to Hartford with an Elite Eight run in tow after collecting their first Big Ten regular season title since the 2019-20 season.
This matchup with UConn and Michigan State is 4-4 all-time since 1998, but the Spartans have won the last two meetings.
Kansas vs. Fort Hays
No. 19 Kansas is set to face Fort Hays State at Allen Fieldhouse at 7 p.m., which will be the Jayhawks’ second and last exhibition before their regular season opener against Green Bay on November 3.
Bill Self’s team began the preseason with a strong 90-82 road win against Louisville at an exhibition last Friday, and freshman Darryn Peterson made a statement in the game with an amazing 26 points.
Fort Hays State will be a familiar opponent, as Kansas has never lost to them in 13 all-time meetings. Also, Mark Johnson begins his 25th season at the helm of the Tigers, with an overall record of 473-230, and has also led Fort Hays State to 21 wins in four consecutive seasons.
Louisville vs. Bucknell
No. 11 Louisville is slated to host Bucknell for an exhibition contest at 7 p.m. at the KFC Centre in Kentucky, Louisville.
The Cardinals are off a tremendous bounce-back season under head coach Pat Kelsey in which they finished 27-8 overall and 18-2 in the ACC, only a year removed from a disastrous 8-24 season in 2023-24. Kelsey was also named ACC Coach of the Year and a subsequent semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year.
Bucknell certainly has its work cut out, having to replace three starters and five lettermen, including First Team All-Patriot League performers Noah Williamson and Josh Bascoe.
UCLA vs. UC Irvine
UCLA will play UC Irvine at Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m. in another exhibition in its second and final preseason competition, one day after winning a 67-60 game against San Diego State on October 17.
In scoring defense, UCLA finished first in the Big Ten last season for the fourth consecutive season, allowing 65.2 points a game, ranking 22nd in the country.
Russell Turner is back for his 16th year at UC Irvine after a great season last year with a record of 32-7. UC Irvine was picked as the preseason favorite in the Big West Conference this year, too.
The last time these programs played was in November of 2017, when the Bruins beat the Anteaters 87-63 at Pauley Pavilion.
Syracuse vs. Pace
Syracuse completes its preseason slate at the JMA Wireless Dome when the Orange take on Division II Pace University at 7 p.m.
The Orange head back home after a 76-66 win over Buffalo in its first exhibition at KeyBank Center, led by transfer Tyler Betsey, who scored 14 points and hit all three of his three-point attempts.
Pace, meanwhile, under head coach Matt Healing, who led the Setters to NCAA Division II Tournament appearances the past two years, would look to give Syracuse a tough fight. The Setters were 24-8 overall last year and 14-6 in Northeast-10 Conference play before falling in the conference championship game and the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
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