By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
ols haven’t met since the Wildcats defeated the Hokies 84-60 in the NCAA Tournament at Dallas in 1996. Virginia Tech defeated Kentucky 80-77 in the last regular-season meeting in 1963 at Memorial Coliseum. Wildcats coach John Calipari owns a 2-0 mark against the Hokies.
Virginia Tech finished 22-11 last season and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007 under third-year coach Buzz Williams. The Hokies went 10-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and captured at least 20 victories for the second straight season. Williams is 53-38 at Virginia Tech and has compiled a 42-26 record during the past two years.
Williams said scheduling has become “as time consuming and intricate as recruiting (with) Exempt events, Power 5 conference challenges, home-and-home series, coupled with our academic calendar, it all becomes a big puzzle to try and fit together” but praised the ability of the athletic staff to fit Kentucky into next year’s schedule.
“Coach (Jeff) Reynolds, along with (associate athletics director Tom) Gabbard’s help, have continued to work incredibly hard to find ways to help our program take the next right step in our desired growth,” Williams said in a university release. “Like all coaches, you want your non-conference schedule to help prepare you for the best league in the country, and competing against a Hall of Fame coach at one of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball will aid in that preparation. It was the piece of this year’s puzzle, and to finish it with a Top 5 team in Kentucky, we are grateful.”
Virginia Tech lost its top two scorers from last season, but return six of its top eight players.
In addition to Virginia Tech, Kentucky’s released non-conference schedule includes Kansas (Nov. 14), Harvard (Dec. 2), Monmouth (Dec. 9) and UCLA (Dec. 23).
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter
