Big Blue Nation is always great, but this point in the season is not usually the Kentucky fanbase at its best. No-name exhibition matchups are made for cheap tickets, maybe a chance for kids to sit closer to the action than usual, rooting for their beloved Wildcats in blowouts. Every seat isn’t always full, and of the ones that are, they’re not living and dying with every make and miss. Then the regular season is when the volume is turned up inside Rupp Arena.
That’s not the case Friday with No. 1 Purdue in town, a first-of-its-kind preseason battle between two top-10 teams and legitimate title contenders.