LEXINGTON, Ky. (WAVE) – The Louisville Cardinals closed the gap late, but No. 5 Kentucky had one last surge to widen the gap and come away with a 93-85 win in Saturday night’s rivalry game.
“Yeah, it is a great, great rivalry,” said head coach Pat Kelsey. “I said it the other day in a press conference. Not only in collegiate basketball but it is one of the really cool rivals in all of American sports. We have to do our part and win some to continue to make that a rivalry. Obviously, we came up short tonight but it’s hard to truly describe I think at Kentucky but especially our city of Louisville and here in Lexington how much this rivalry means. Houses divided but man I mean they reminded me early and often and every single day. Every time I go get gas, I go get something to eat in the community, you know ‘Hey coach how are you doing? Are you going to beat Kentucky this year?’ So I get it. I get it and what a great thing it was. It was awesome. You have to sometimes get above the trees and have a little bit of perspective of what you are doing and where you are at. I try to stay present every single day keep blinders on to work and help our team to do the best they can be.”
UK took the lead early and never relinquished it, leading for all but 38 seconds of the game, but the Cards hung around all game, with the Cats’ lead never getting larger than 12 midway through the first half. The Cards’ only lead of the game came less than a minute in when Chucky Hepburn nailed a three to put UofL up 3-2, which Jaxson Robinson erased 10 seconds later to give the Cats the lead for good.
Kentucky opened the game on 17-9 run over the first five minutes that included draining a trio of threes to set the tone.
After UK pushed the lead to 12, the Cards cut the lead to eight within a minute before there was a scoring drought for both teams that lasted almost three minutes before Noah Waterman hit a three to cut the lead to five.
The Cats were able to keep the Cards at bay by shooting 58% overall and 52.4% from three, hitting 11 of their 21 attempts.
The Cards just couldn’t seem to get the big shot when they started to gain momentum, hitting 14 of their 39 attempts from beyond the arc for just under 36% and shooting just 44% from the field.
Kentucky dominated UofL on the glass, outrebounding the Cards 46-31. The Cats also proved willing to make the extra pass, totaling 23 assists to UofL’s eight.
The Wildcats feasted on the fast break, scoring 24 of their points in transition compared to UofL’s four.
Both teams had five scorers in double figures with UK’s Lamont Butler leading all scorers with 33 points on 100% shooting to earn MVP honors. Hepburn led the Cards with 26 and Terrence Edwards, Jr. was right behind him with 23.
Otega Oweh’s 17, Robinson’s 12 and Koby Brea and Andrew Carr’s 10 each rounded out the Kentucky leaders. J’Vonne Hadley and Reyne Smith each had 10 for the Cards and Waterman recorded a double-double with 12 points and rebounds.
UofL falls to 6-5 on the year and travels to Tallahassee for a matchup against Florida State for a 2 p.m. tip on Dec. 21. The Cats improve to 10-1 and will head to New York for the CBS Sports Classic against Ohio State in Madison Square Garden. That game tips off at 5:30.
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2024-12-15 01:08:02
