UK basketball extends agreement to play Gonzaga through 2027

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WYMT) - University of Kentucky men’s basketball head coach John Calipari announced some big news on his Twitter account Thursday morning. His squad will now face the Bulldogs of Gonzaga for the next few seasons.

In a release from UK Athletics, the series has two games played in Spokane, Washington, two in Lexington and two at neutral sites.

Here is the breakdown by season:

2022 – Spokane Arena

2023 – Rupp Arena

2024 – Seattle

2025 – Nashville

2026 – Rupp Arena

2027 – McCarthey Athletic Center

“I am so excited that we have finalized this series,” Coach Calipari said in the release. “Mark is a great friend and what he has done at Gonzaga to build them into one of the premier programs in our sport is incredible. The mindset I have when I put together our schedule here at Kentucky is that we want to always challenge ourselves by competing with the best teams we can find and generate some marquee home games for the best fans in the country. We have done that with Gonzaga and I look forward to competing with them the next six seasons.”

“This is something Coach Calipari and I have been working on for some time,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said. “It’s an exciting thing for both programs, both schools, both fan bases, and all of college basketball. Instead of a two-year thing, this gives everyone something to put on their calendar and look forward to over the next six seasons.”

The teams enter the 2022 matchup having only met once before on the hardwood. Kentucky captured an 80-72 victory in 2002 at the Maui Invitational.

The first matchup between the Cats and the Dogs will take place at 7:30 p.m. on November 20th on ESPN.

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