Kentucky will take on Monmouth at Madison Square Garden on December 9th as part of a two-year series with the Hawks.

Monmouth will travel to Rupp Arena for the conclusion of the series in the 2018-2019 season.

It will still be weeks before Kentucky releases its entire 2017-2018 schedule, but the out-of-conference portion is coming together.

UK will play Kansas Nov. 14th in Chicago for the Champions Classic, UCLA on Dec. 23rd in New Orleans, Louisville at Rupp Arena and on the road in the SEC/Big XII Challenge.

But it's not just all big names for the Cats. UK will host Harvard on Dec. 2nd at Rupp Arena and several other opponents will be scattered in the out-of-confernece over the next few weeks.

The Monmouth news was speculated a week ago but the dates are now official and it's not just one game between the two schools, but instead a two-year deal.

Kentucky has never played Monmouth but the Hawks have been a college basketball topic over the last few years. Often known for their "Bench Mob" shenanigans, Monmouth has been just impressive on the court. The Hawks have won over 25 games their last two seasons and have gone to two straight NITs, but were wildly considered the biggest NCAA Tournament snub in 2016.

Monmouth lost three of its top four scorers from last season.

UK playing games in the New York area is becoming a regular thing for John Calipari's Cats. UK has played three games at Madison Square Garden (3-0) and four games at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (3-1).

Kentucky defeated Michigan State in Madison Square Garden last year and Hofstra in Brooklyn.

Calipari has had a history of playing games to appease recruits and members on the team. Quade Green is from Philadelphia, Nick Richards from New Jersey, Hamidou Diallo from Queens and Wenyen Gabriel from Massachusetts.

There are plenty of UK recruits in the class of 2018 and 2019 from the area, too, including Cameron Reddish (Pa.), Moses Brown (Queens) and Nazreon Reid (N.J.) in 2018.