FAU (4-8) @ UK (9-3)
Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008
3:00 p.m. ET

The series

Having not met previously, this will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

FAU's Last Road Game for a While

Can I get an Amen? This should be music to Owl Fan's ears.  Let's be real here:  9 road games out of 12 total to start the season - yikes!  Anyway, The Owls (4-8) will be looking to rebound after losing big to UAB Monday in Birmingham 76-43. The loss was uncharacteristic for an FAU team that had been playing close games during its road-heavy early-season schedule. First-year head coach Mike Jarvis inherited a 15-18 team from 2007-08 that returned three senior starters in F Carlos Monroe, G Paul Graham III and G Carderro Nwoji. Monroe , projected to be the Sun Belt Conference "Player of the Year" by a number of college basketball publications, missed the first nine games of the year and has averaged 13.7 points and 5.0 rebounds since returning two weeks ago. Graham leads the team in scoring (15.9 ppg) and Nwoji is playing a team-high 32 minutes per night.


Kentucky at a Glance

The Wildcats (9-3) have won 9 of 10 including beating West Virginia (54-43) on a neutral floor and knocking off Indiana (72-54) at home. Their lone loss during that stretch was to Miami (73-67) in Lexington . Second-year head coach Billy Gillispie (27-16 at UK ) was named the 2007-08 SEC Coach of the Year after leading the `Cats to an 18-13 record and an NCAA Tournament berth in his first season at UK . Gillispie is getting an SEC-best 24.8 points per game from junior Jodie Meeks and 19.0 ppg and 9.1 rebounds each night from 6-foot-9 sophomore Patrick Patterson.


Game Coverage

Lot's of angles to catch the game.  SUN, local Comcast Channel 35 for Boca/Delray veiwers. Fox Sports Network (South) will televise the game live throughout portions of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia.  The game will also be available online via ESPN360.com.

Ken LaVicka will call the game for radio listeners on WFTL - 640 AM with additional audio links available via FAUSPORTS.com. Live scoring via GAMETRACKER will also be provided on FAUSPORTS.com.


Owl's Nest Prediction

UAB was a thumping.  No doubt about it.  And they are a darn good team; now being ranked as high as 19th by way of CBS Sportsline.

But this is the toughest all around Team the Owls will have faced all year - hands down.

Wish there was another vatange point or way to spin this one.  But, the bottom line is:

The Owls face a very talented UK squad - at home.

UK -20+



Sources:  FAU Media Relations, CBS Sportsline