Kentucky had a surprisingly small crowd for their home game against North Dakota on Wednesday night.
By the time the game was getting set for tip-off, there were several empty seats and even full sections that were empty.
Jeff Drummond, who has been covering Kentucky since 1999, said he’d never seen a smaller crowd at tip-off for a regular season game.
I’ve been covering UK daily since 1999. I’ve never seen Rupp Arena like this at tip-off for a regular season game. Weather is awful tonight, tip-off is at 9 ET and opponent is North Dakota, but it still takes you aback… pic.twitter.com/vgrTy6v3r4
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) November 15, 2018
The Lexington Herald-Leader’s John Clay also made note of the turnout:
Less than 10 minutes to tip, looks like weather affecting E-Rupption Zone turnout at Rupp. pic.twitter.com/5mxJLgqtCQ
— John Clay (@johnclayiv) November 15, 2018
There were a handful of factors attributed to the light crowd. One, the weather was terrible with ice on the roads, making it difficult for people to get to the game. Two, the tip-off was late at 9:00 pm. Three, the opponent was North Dakota. And to a lesser extent, some attributed the crowd to declining fan interest in the program. Getting smacked so badly by Duke probably didn’t help matters.
