Dark horse Quakers take on No. 12 Kentucky

The Quakers are 1-1 when playing Wildcats this season. With a win over Davidson and a loss to Villanova, the men's basketball team will look to improve on that trivial record as they take on the Kentucky Wildcats 7:00 p.m. Monday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.?

For Penn (5-5), advancing above .500 — both on the season and against Wildcats — will be a tall order. Kentucky, like Villanova when they faced the Red and Blue, is ranked No. 12 nationally. The Wildcats are also fresh off a 15-point victory over No. 20 Louisville Friday. But none of that is putting a damper on the Quakers’ winter break travel plans.

“We’re preparing to go in there and get a win,” said freshman Miles Cartwright, who had 22 points against Pittsburgh in his first game against a ranked opponent.

What has put a damper on their winter break, however, was the Quakers’ 66-57 loss Wednesday to Marist, a team Penn was expected to run through on its way to Lexington.

And if the Red and Blue couldn’t handle the lowly Red Foxes, they’ll have a tough time stacking up against coach John Calipari’s Wildcats. Kentucky averages 80.3 points and 40.8 boards per game — both more than double digits better than Penn.

Though Calipari lost John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins to the NBA last season, he now has a talented guard-forward duo of freshmen Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones, who average 35.7 combined points per game.

And as Calipari has mostly stuck to his starters and sixth man Doron Lamb, who scored 32 points against Winthrop — a program record for a freshman — the coach will likely give time to bench players in their last game before Southeastern Conference play begins.

But with two games against top-25 teams already under their collective belt, the Quakers are used to playing on the big stage.

“You walk into Rupp Arena and it’s like Gene Hackman walking into Hinkle,” said senior captain Jack Eggleston, a Noblesville, Ind., native. “You have somebody stand on somebody’s shoulders, measure the 10 feet from the rim, measure the 15 feet to the free throw line and say, ‘Hey, it’s the same as the Palestra, it’s no different, just play basketball.’”

And in addition to coming home with a win, Cartwright is looking forward to playing at historic Rupp.

“I think the atmosphere will be great at Rupp Arena, probably sold out,” he said. “And it’s always rocking in there just from watching it on TV.”

With the game televised on ESPNU, Cartwright — for the first time in his young career — will not be watching the Wildcats, but playing with them in front of a national audience.

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