The majority of the 2024-25 Kentucky Basketball is finished, but there are still four open scholarship spots. For that reason, we’re going to see Kentucky kicking the tires on just about every available option that emerges over the next month to fill those final spots.
We’ve got a new one to monitor in the form of UCLA Bruins forward Berke Buyuktuncel, who entered the transfer portal on Tuesday.
Per Jon Rothstein, Kentucky is among a host of schools that’ve contacted Berke, including Virginia, Ohio State, Louisville, Washington, and Iowa.
Sources: UCLA transfer Berke Buyuktuncel is receiving interest from several schools which includes the following programs.
Nebraska Virginia Cincinnati Washington Butler Ohio State Oklahoma State Kentucky BYU Iowa Louisville
A class of 2023 signee out of Turkey, Berke was ranked 36th overall and seventh among power forwards in his class, according to 247 Sports. He’s represented his home country in international basketball competitions, including the summer of 2023 when he helped Turkey finish in third place at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup.
The 6-foot-9, 245-pounder played in 26 games (eight starts) last season, averaging 4.5 points on 38.5% shooting (29.7% from 3-point range) and 2.5 rebounds per game. He attempted 37 3s on the season, connecting on 11, so he’s capable of stretching the floor, something Mark Pope has put a strong emphasis on with frontcourt transfers he’s contacted.
Kentucky’s frontcourt is going to rely heavily on Amari Williams, Andrew Carr, and Brandon Garrison to hold down the fort next season, so Berke could be a nice option as a fourth big man who would be competing for an 8th/9th man-type of role.
Whether Berke is open to that type of role or wants heavy playing minutes at a smaller program remains to be seen, but we know Kentucky has some level of interest in his services.
Advertisement
Check out some highlights of Berke in action!
A Sea of Blue comes loaded with the best Kentucky Wildcats links, news, analysis, and other fun stuff, so be sure to like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. Go CATS!
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rivalry week has finally arrived. The Louisville and Kentucky football program are set to do battle once again, facing off in Lexington for the annual Battle for the Governor’s Cup.
Here are the depth charts for both the Cardinals and Wildcats:
Changes from Louisville’s Depth Chart vs. Pitt:
Quarterback
Advertisement
9 Tyler Shough (6-5, 230, Gr.) 10 Pierce Clarkson (6-1, 190, R-Fr.) OR 15 Harrison Bailey (6-5, 230, R-Sr.) OR 12 Brady Allen (6-6, 220, R-So)
Running Back
25 Isaac Brown (5-9, 190, Fr.) 21 Donald Chaney Jr. (5-10, 210, R-Jr.) 26 Duke Watson (6-0, 180, Fr.) 22 Keyjuan Brown (5-10, 210, R-Fr.)
Wide Receiver
0 Chris Bell (6-2, 220, Jr.) 81 Cataurus Hicks (5-10, 180, R-Fr.)
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (3-2) at Kentucky Wildcats (5-0)
Lexington, Kentucky; Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. EST
Advertisement
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Wildcats -22.5; over/under is 164
BOTTOM LINE: No. 8 Kentucky takes on Western Kentucky after Koby Brea scored 22 points in Kentucky’s 108-59 win over the Jackson State Tigers.
The Wildcats have gone 4-0 at home. Kentucky is 10th in college basketball averaging 12.6 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 42.3% from downtown. Brea leads the team averaging 4.0 makes while shooting 74.1% from 3-point range.
The Hilltoppers are 0-1 in road games. Western Kentucky ranks third in the CUSA shooting 37.4% from 3-point range.
Kentucky scores 97.0 points, 24.2 more per game than the 72.8 Western Kentucky allows. Western Kentucky averages 9.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.8 more made shots on average than the 6.0 per game Kentucky gives up.
Advertisement
TOP PERFORMERS: Brea is shooting 74.1% from beyond the arc with 4.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, while averaging 16 points.
Julius Thedford averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Hilltoppers, scoring 11.4 points while shooting 54.5% from beyond the arc.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Mark Stoops owns a five-game winning streak in the Governor’s Cup series. The Wildcats have won three games in a row at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium and have not lost to Louisville at Kroger Field since 2017 when Bobby Petrino was holding the call sheet and and Lamar Jackson was playing quarterback. The Wildcats have also covered a lot of spreads in this series.
Stoops is 7-2-1 against-the-spread (ATS) in this series with with covers as a double-digit dog in 2014 and 2016. Kentucky has beaten Louisville outright as a dog three times since 2016 and has covered five straight in this series. Those are not the only trends going in Kentucky’s direction heading into this Week 14 contest.
Louisville is 0-4-1 ATS as a road favorite under Jeff Brohm with outright losses to Pittsburgh and Stanford. Kentucky is 5-0-1 ATS as a dog in its last six outing including four games this season. Kentucky covered numbers as a double-digit dog against Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas this season.
The visitor is 11-3-1 ATS (5-10 outright) in the last 14 meetings of this series with 10 outright wins but Kentucky has won the last two meetings at Kroger Field covering each times as a three-point favorite. In 2019, Kentucky ran away for a 45-13 victory and cruised to a 26-13 victory in 2022.
Advertisement
Kentucky has consistently overachieved pregame expectations in this series. The Wildcats are currently a 3.5-point dog with a total of 48.5. That’s a projected final score of 26-22.5. Will UK exceed expectations again against Louisville? A win would equal four outright upsets for the Big Blue in the last eight meetings of the series.
Want more coverage of the Cats? Join the KSR Club.
KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. Now is the perfect time to join our online community. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard, our message board featuring thousands of Kentucky fans around the globe. Come join the club.
Take advantage of our KSR+ Introductory Offer to get bonus coverage of the Cats, including game threads, in-depth scouting reports, and the latest recruiting and roster intel. $1 for seven days and 50% off an entire year.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25739950/247386_Elon_Musk_Open_AI_CVirginia.jpg "Inside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI")
