Kentucky’s Mark Pope talks physical game versus Michigan State
Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope makes an opening statement following the team’s 83-66 loss to the Michigan State Spartans at Madison Square Garden.
LEXINGTON — It’s been more than a decade since Kentucky basketball last faced Loyola University Maryland. That’s also the only meeting between the programs.
The result: a one-sided win for UK, which cruised to an 87-63 victory at Rupp Arena on Dec. 22, 2011. That group of Wildcats went on to capture the school’s eighth — and most recent — national championship.
Kentucky and coach Mark Pope hope this season ends on a similarly high note.
Stream Kentucky vs. Loyola University Maryland
For now, the club is licking its wounds after its second loss (in as many games) to a power conference foe, falling to Michigan State by 17 points in a Champions Classic clash at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
UK (3-2), which enters No. 13 in the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll and No. 12 in the AP Top 25, vies for another bounce-back win tonight against a Loyola bunch that is 2-4 since the 2025-26 season began.
Josh Loeffler is in his second season as the Greyhounds’ coach. He is 14-23 at Loyola but is 174-63 in seven seasons as a college coach. He previously led a pair of Division III schools: Johns Hopkins (where he went 114-27 from 2017 through 2023) and Stevens Tech (he was 46-13 from 2006 through 2008). Before taking over Loyola’s program, he was an assistant coach at Cincinnati during the 2023-24 season.
In a preseason poll voted on by Patriot League coaches, Loyola was predicted to end sixth in the 10-team conference.
Here’s what you need to know to follow today’s game between the Wildcats and Greyhounds from home:
UK and Loyola Maryland are slated to tip off at 7 p.m. today at Rupp Arena.
The game between the Wildcats and Greyhounds will not air on a traditional television channel.
Instead, it will be streamed live on SEC Network+, a complementary digital platform to the linear SEC Network run by ESPN.
Authenticated subscribers can access SEC Network+ via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com, the WatchESPN app or ESPN+.
Stream Kentucky basketball’s game vs. Loyola Maryland on SEC Network+
Betting odds: Kentucky is a 35 ½-point favorite (-108) on DraftKings, which set the over/under at 155 ½ points (-112/-108).
Tom Leach (play-by-play) and Jack Givens (analyst) will have the UK radio network call on 840 AM in Louisville and both 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington.
You can also listen online via UKAthletics.com.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
