First Scouting Report: UK will seek to avoid a post-Kansas letdown against Stonehill
A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 17 Kentucky (2-1) will face Stonehill College (1-3) on Friday, Nov. 17, at Rupp Arena (capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington.
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and be broadcast via internet streaming only on SEC Network+.
Stone Hill was blasted 100-56 at Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday night.
Series history
This will be the first meeting between Kentucky and Stonehill College in men’s basketball.
Know your foe
1. Stonehill College was founded in 1948 as a private Catholic college. Located in North Easton, Massachusetts, Stonehill has an enrollment of some 2,570. According to U.S. News and World Report, 84% of Stonehill students live in college-owned, operated or affiliated housing and 56% of the students at the school are female.
In athletics, Stonehill is in its second year of a four-year transition period as it moves from NCAA Division II to Division I.
2. The Skyhawks men’s basketball team is coached by a Stonehill College alumnus, Chris Kraus. Playing at Stonehill from 2002 through 2006, Kraus was a member of the 2005-06 Skyhawks who won 27 games and advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
Kraus has been head coach at his alma mater since the 2013-14 season and has a 145-119 record.
According to Stonehill, Kraus is the only native Canadian who holds an NCAA Division I men’s basketball head coaching job.
3. Before facing Saint Joseph’s, Stonehill had begun its season with blowout losses to George Washington (89-44) and defending NCAA champion Connecticut (107-67) and a victory over Army (57-44).
Stonehill’s two top players are veterans. Going into the Saint Joseph’s game, senior guard Jackson Benigni led the Skyhawks in scoring at 12.0 points a game and was making 51.6% of his field-goal attempts.
Max Zegarowski, a 6-8, 205-pound graduate student, led Stonehill in rebounding (6.3 per game) and was averaging 10.3 points.
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