The Kentucky State University men's basketball team opens the season 7:30 p.m. Monday against Wilberforce University in the Queen CIty Classic in Cincinnati, Ohio. The game will be played at Withrow High School. 

While its the Thorobreds' regular season opener, Wilberforce (2-7) will be playing in its 10th contest of the young season. 
 
CONFERENCE INFORMATION: The Kentucky State University men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth in the six-team West Division of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 
    Miles was picked to win the West, followed by LeMoyne-Owen, Lane, KSU, Central State, Tuskegee, and Spring Hill. 
    In the East Division, Morehouse was voted as the preseason favorite. The Maroon Tigers were followed by Albany State, Clark Atlanta, Savannah State, Benedict, Fort Valley State and Paine.

LOST PRODUCTION: The Thorobreds must replace 75 percent of their scoring from last season, including the top four scorers. Senior Grant Goode is the top returning scorer for Kentucky State with 7.4 points per game. The guard shots 42.2 percent (68 of 161) from the field a season ago. 
    Graduate guard Felix Wilson is the only starter from last year, starting in all 25 games he played in. 

BRAND NEW FACES: Kentucky State welcomes nine new faces to the roster, including three Division I transfers and just one true freshman. Two of the transfers, Jordan Little (Morgan State University) and Damarri Moore (Tennessee State University) are expected to start against the Wildcats. 

FROM DISTANCE: Senior guard Kevin Wharton-Price is probably the team's best shooter. Last season, 42 of his 49 shots were from beyond the arc. In the team's two exhibition contests, Wharton-Price attempted 14 of his 16 shots from long range. 

ROTATION: In the exhibition loss to Western Kentucky, eight players played at least 15 minutes with Damarri Moore playing 36 of the team's 40 minutes. In the two exhibition games, he is averaging 35 minutes of action. 

GETTING DEFENSIVE: Against the Hilltoppers, Damarri Moore pulled down 10 rebounds, all on the defensive end. As a team, 82 percent of the team's rebounds have been the defensive variety. The Thorobreds have 12 offensive rebounds this season. 

DIVERSE GROUP: The 15-player squad comes from nine different states, and oddly enough, Michigan leads the way with three players. Two of the three players from the Mitten State - Jalen Fisher and Aaron Howard - were teammates at Ypsilanti Lincoln High School. 
    Kentucky State has two players from its home state, while the remainder of the team is from Ohio, Tennessee, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Illinois.

GETTING BUCKETS: In two of the last three seasons, Kentucky State has placed two scorers in the top five of the conference leaders. Last season, Ditalion Battle  led the way with 19.1 points per game, while Kevin Hayes was fourth with 17.5 points.