Men's Basketball | 11/3/2023 12:57:00 AM

Box Score LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the third University of Kentucky men's basketball Unity Series the Wildcats hosted the Thorobreds in an exhibition matchup Thursday evening inside Rupp Arena In Lexington, Kentucky.  
 
The Unity Series begun in 2021 as a way for the Wildcats to add at least one historically black college and university to raise awareness of the missions of HBUC's and provide opportunities for students of both schools. 
 
On Wednesday (Nov. 1) the Thorobreds had dinner with the Wildcats where they received wisdom from this year's honorees George Raveling and P. G. Peeples.  
 
Following the exhibition Senior Brandon Hill talked about his experience during the Unity Series," "This was a great experience, not many can experience something like this, and Coach (George) Raveling, had a great, inspiring story about what he through in his basketball journey. He put knowledge into us about being more than a basketball player and I was just saying, I really love that about him. He said basketball can take you all across the world and if basketball is all you are known for, you basically failed, so you want to be something bigger than basketball. It was definitely a great experience and I want to thank Coach (John) Calipari, Coach (Jamaal) Jackson, and everybody behind the scenes that set this up." Hill said following the game.  
 
Lavar Miller Jr. also shared his experience, "It was very good, just being a kid growing up watching guys like Tyler Ulis, DeAaron Fox, and the Harrison Twins, this was a dream come true. I definitely want to thank anybody who was behind this, I give my flowers to Coach (Jamaal) Jackson every day it definitely was a blessing. I got to talk to some of their guys and they have good vibes on their side, it was really a great moment to realize I've been dreaming of this my whole life so to do it was a blessing and I don't regret anything at all." Miller said.  
 
During the exhibition on Thursday, Nov. 2 the Thorobreds fell 99-53, as Josiah Mitchell led the Thorobreds with 10 points.  
 
Jaylen Daughtery and Joseph Owens tallied five rebounds each while Brandon Hill led the team with two assists.  
 
As Head Coach Dr. Jamaal Jackson and his team prepare for more exhibition contest and the regular games against Kentucky help prepare his team, "This is great preparation. I told the guys this is an NBA game, you got 7 first-rounders on that team. It's great preparation, we won't see anything like that team in our conference. Not only do we have UK tonight we have Southern Illinois Monday, we have Tennessee State next Thursday, we have Western Kentucky later on in November, we did that purposely to get our guys ready for a very, very tough conference season." coach Jackson said.  
 
Up Next 
The Thorobreds will continue exhibition play on the road at NCAA Division I opponent Southern Illinois on Monday, Nov. 6. at 7 p.m. inside the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.  
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