UK basketball announces Bahamas tour

Kentucky basketball's tour of the Bahamas will include two games against the Dominican Republic National Team and two against the Puerto Rico reserve team between Aug. 10 and 17.

The Wildcats, this season's NCAA Tournament runners-up, will play six games during what's being dubbed the Big Blue Bahamas tour. NCAA rules permit teams to take a foreign trip once every four years.

UK will open the tour Aug. 10 against the Puerto Rico reserves at 5 p.m. ET. The next day, UK will face Champagne Chalons-Reims Basket at 1 p.m. Kentucky will play the Puerto Rico reserves for the second time at 1 p.m. Aug. 12.

After a day off, the Cats will face the Dominican Republic Aug. 14 at 5 p.m. The date of the second game against Champagne Chalons-Reims Basket -- either Aug. 15 or 16 at 1 p.m. -- will be determined later. Kentucky will finish the tour Aug. 17 against the Dominican Republic at noon.

"My goal is for our team to grow together, to learn about one another, to have fun and to compete against teams that will stretch us out," UK coach John Calipari said in a release. "These teams should be a challenge that will let us really see where we are at this point. But again, learning and having fun will be the emphasis of the trip. It's another opportunity for us to fail fast."

Tickets for Kentucky's games will be available only to those who book through the Big Blue Bahamas tour travel company. For ticket and travel information, call 1-855-852-2255 or visit ukfantravel.com.

The Wildcats return three starters and nearly 60 percent of their scoring from this season's 29-11 team. UK likely will be the nation's preseason No. 1 team on the strength of returning guards Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison, centers Dakari Johnson and Willie Cauley-Stein and forwards Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee along with the Rivals' No. 2 incoming recruiting class, guards Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker and forwards Trey Lyles and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Kentucky last took a foreign trip in the summer of 2010, when it played a series of games against Canadian teams in Windsor, Ontario.