Purdue Boilermakers guard C.J. Cox (0) high-fives Purdue Boilermakers guard Fletcher Loyer (2) Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

How to Purchase Tickets For No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 9 Kentucky Exhibition Game

Originally posted on Purdue Boilermakers on SI
By Dustin Schutte | Last updated Oct 14, 2025 1:40 PM ET

Purdue and Kentucky fans hoping to catch the exhibition game between the two top-10 teams will have their opportunity to purchase tickets on Tuesday, Oct. 14. The University of Kentucky's athletic department released information on Monday.

No. 1 Purdue will travel to Lexington to play No. 9 Kentucky on Friday, Oct. 24, at Rupp Arena. Tickets will go on sale at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday and can be purchased exclusively through Ticketmaster.com or the Ticketmaster app.

Ticket prices for the exhibition game were not included by the release from the school.

The Boilermakers and Wildcats were both ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll, which was released on Monday. Even though the game doesn't count towards the regular-season record, there was a lot of buzz about this exhibition contest.

Now that it's a guaranteed top-10 matchup, fans of both teams are even more excited.

Tipoff between Purdue and Kentucky is set for 6 p.m. ET from Rupp Arena. The game will air on SEC Network.

Painter finds value in exhibition games

Scheduling a tough exhibition game against a premier opponent is nothing new for Purdue. It's become a philosophy for coach Matt Painter, who believes playing a tough exhibition game on the road is a great preseason test for a basketball team.

"That's why I really enjoy playing a tough exhibition game like Kentucky. They can say whatever they want, but now you have to go face them in that beehive," he said. "That's who you are. When you walk out of there, that's who you are that day. Let's learn from that, let's get better, and get ready for that first real game."

In the past, Purdue has traveled to Arkansas and Creighton for high-quality exhibition games. Both times, the Boilermakers were on the wrong side of the scoreboard in those games. However, lessons were learned from those losses that helped the team develop and grow throughout the season.

That's what Painter enjoys most about going on the road so early in the year.

"A lot of times, success will mess with you a lot more than failure. That failure gets you on edge, the failure makes you look at things clearly," Painter said. "Where you can win by a basket or two and you think you dominated a game, when in reality, you didn't."

Purdue will play a second exhibition game on Oct. 29, hosting UIndy at Mackey Arena.

This article first appeared on Purdue Boilermakers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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