UT Arlington men to play Kentucky again in basketball

UT Arlington’s men’s basketball team will return to Rupp Arena on Nov. 25 to face Kentucky, it was announced Wednesday.

The Mavericks played Kentucky for the first time last season, losing to the fourth-ranked Wildcats 105-76 on Nov. 19 in Lexington.

Kentucky ended its season in Arlington, losing to Connecticut 60-54 in the NCAA finals April 7 at AT&T Stadium.

The Wildcats return twin guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison, 7-footers Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson, forwards Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee and four incoming high school All-Americans.

“Playing in legendary Rupp Arena was a great experience for our players and our program last season,” UTA coach Scott Cross said. “We look forward to the return visit this season. Competing against a team of Kentucky’s caliber is a positive for our guys in so many ways.”

UTA’s complete schedule and season-ticket information will be released at a later date, the school said.

UTA finished 15-17 last season and 9-9 in its first season in the Sun Belt Conference. The Mavericks return six lettermen, as well as three student-athletes who redshirted last season, for 2014-15. The Mavericks will also welcome four freshmen.

Appalachian State and Georgia Southern joined the Sun Belt as full members on July 1 and Idaho and New Mexico State joined as football-only members.

This story was originally published July 2, 2014 at 4:47 PM with the headline "UT Arlington men to play Kentucky again in basketball."