Louisville Game Notes — https://uofl.me/3CehTE9
Kentucky Game Notes — https://uofl.me/3YXlH6D
Video: UofL coach Kenny Payne previews UK —
Video: Cardinals JJ Traynor and Kamari Lands preview UK —
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Louisville men’s basketball finishes non-conference play Saturday with a rivalry matchup at No. 19/17 Kentucky at 12 p.m. ET. The game will air nationally on CBS.
Louisville has been off since a 76-64 loss at ACC foe NC State on Dec. 22. Kentucky opened SEC action Wednesday with an 89-75 loss at Missouri.
Louisville is 17-37 all-time against Kentucky. The Wildcats have won 11 of the last 14 meetings, although UofL won the last matchup 62-59 at home in 2020. The teams didn’t play last season for the first time since 1982 due to COVID-19 issues within the Cardinal program.
GAME 14
Louisville (2-11) at Kentucky (8-4)
December 31, 2022 | 12 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena | Lexington, Ky.
MEDIA INFO
Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship); Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Bob Valvano, analysis)
Watch: CBS (Tom McCarthy, pxp | Bill Raftery, analyst | Jay Wright, analyst)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
TOP STORYLINES
• Louisville head coach Kenny Payne spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach and later associate head coach at Kentucky from 2010-20 under coach John Calipari. The Wildcats went a combined 295-73 during Payne’s time with the program, reaching six NCAA Elite Eights and four Final Fours, and claiming the 2012 national championship. Payne helped coach 36 NBA Draft picks while at Kentucky, including 23 lottery picks and two No. 1 selections (Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony-Towns).
• Payne’s son, Louisville graduate senior guard/forward Zan Payne, previously spent four seasons at Kentucky. After missing the first two years due to injury, Payne played in 11 total games during his final two seasons as a Wildcat.
• No. 19 Kentucky will be the fifth team Louisville has played this season that’s been ranked in the AP Top 25 at some point. The Cardinals are 62-72 against Top 25 teams over the last 13 years.
• Over the last four games, senior guard El Ellis has averaged 20.5 points, 6.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds while making 9 of 21 3-pointers. He set career highs against Western Kentucky with 30 points and 10 assists. Ellis is the first Cardinal to hit those marks since current team video coordinator Reece Gaines did it against TCU on March 6, 2002. It’s the 22nd time nationally since 2018 that a player has reached those numbers, and Ellis is the first player in Division I to do so this season.
• After averaging 1.7 points and 3.6 rebounds across the first nine games, senior forward Sydney Curry is averaging 12.8 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last four games while shooting 67% overall. His career-high 19 rebounds against Florida A&M were the most by a Cardinal since Luke Whitehead grabbed 19 boards against Marquette on Jan. 31, 2004.
• One of the Cardinals’ strengths as a team has been getting to the free-throw line. Louisville ranks 89th in the country in free throws made per game at 14.1 and 76th in free-throw percentage at 73.8%. Louisville has shot at least 20 free throws in each of the last four games, and over that span has made more free throws (70) than its opponents have even attempted (52).
• The Cardinals are 11 games into a 16-game stretch that will see them face 12 teams in the top 90 of the KenPom rankings and 14 teams in the top 150. That stretch began in Maui with Arkansas and concludes Jan. 18 with Pittsburgh. As of Tuesday, the overall record of Louisville’s opponents during that stretch was 136-66.
HISTORY VS. KENTUCKY (Kentucky leads 37-17)
Last Meeting: Louisville 62, Kentucky 59
Dec. 23, 2020 | Louisville, Ky.
Carlik Jones made two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining for 20 points, David Johnson added 17 points and Louisville held off rival Kentucky 62-59.
The Cardinals led 56-49 late in the half before the Wildcats rallied to tie the game at 59-all on Isaiah Jackson’s free throw with 1:05 left. After Dre Davis made one of two free throws to put Louisville up 60-59 with 18.9 left, Olivier Sarr’s jumper rimmed out and Davion Mintz fouled Jones, who made the free throws for a three-point edge.
Brandon Boston Jr.’s wide-open 3-point attempt with a second left bounced off the rim and was rebounded by Jae’lyn Withers, helping Louisville end a three-game series losing streak while handling Kentucky its sixth consecutive loss.
Jones made 7 of 16 from the field and had five assists for the Cardinals, who shot 42%. Johnson was 5 of 10, including 3 of 4 from long range, with seven rebounds, while Withers had nine boards and eight points. Jones and Johnson combined for nine points during a second-half stretch that twice built seven-point leads before Kentucky bounced back.
Mintz had 19 points, Boston 11 and Jacob Toppin 10 with six rebounds for Kentucky (1-6), which had won 11 of 13 in the series. The Wildcats outrebounded Louisville 40-35 but edged 27-24 defensively. They also shot 34% and were just 14 of 22 from the foul line.
Kentucky Game Notes — https://uofl.me/3YXlH6D
Video: UofL coach Kenny Payne previews UK —
Video: Cardinals JJ Traynor and Kamari Lands preview UK —
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Louisville men’s basketball finishes non-conference play Saturday with a rivalry matchup at No. 19/17 Kentucky at 12 p.m. ET. The game will air nationally on CBS.
Louisville has been off since a 76-64 loss at ACC foe NC State on Dec. 22. Kentucky opened SEC action Wednesday with an 89-75 loss at Missouri.
Louisville is 17-37 all-time against Kentucky. The Wildcats have won 11 of the last 14 meetings, although UofL won the last matchup 62-59 at home in 2020. The teams didn’t play last season for the first time since 1982 due to COVID-19 issues within the Cardinal program.
GAME 14
Louisville (2-11) at Kentucky (8-4)
December 31, 2022 | 12 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena | Lexington, Ky.
MEDIA INFO
Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship); Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Bob Valvano, analysis)
Watch: CBS (Tom McCarthy, pxp | Bill Raftery, analyst | Jay Wright, analyst)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
TOP STORYLINES
• Louisville head coach Kenny Payne spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach and later associate head coach at Kentucky from 2010-20 under coach John Calipari. The Wildcats went a combined 295-73 during Payne’s time with the program, reaching six NCAA Elite Eights and four Final Fours, and claiming the 2012 national championship. Payne helped coach 36 NBA Draft picks while at Kentucky, including 23 lottery picks and two No. 1 selections (Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony-Towns).
• Payne’s son, Louisville graduate senior guard/forward Zan Payne, previously spent four seasons at Kentucky. After missing the first two years due to injury, Payne played in 11 total games during his final two seasons as a Wildcat.
• No. 19 Kentucky will be the fifth team Louisville has played this season that’s been ranked in the AP Top 25 at some point. The Cardinals are 62-72 against Top 25 teams over the last 13 years.
• Over the last four games, senior guard El Ellis has averaged 20.5 points, 6.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds while making 9 of 21 3-pointers. He set career highs against Western Kentucky with 30 points and 10 assists. Ellis is the first Cardinal to hit those marks since current team video coordinator Reece Gaines did it against TCU on March 6, 2002. It’s the 22nd time nationally since 2018 that a player has reached those numbers, and Ellis is the first player in Division I to do so this season.
• After averaging 1.7 points and 3.6 rebounds across the first nine games, senior forward Sydney Curry is averaging 12.8 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last four games while shooting 67% overall. His career-high 19 rebounds against Florida A&M were the most by a Cardinal since Luke Whitehead grabbed 19 boards against Marquette on Jan. 31, 2004.
• One of the Cardinals’ strengths as a team has been getting to the free-throw line. Louisville ranks 89th in the country in free throws made per game at 14.1 and 76th in free-throw percentage at 73.8%. Louisville has shot at least 20 free throws in each of the last four games, and over that span has made more free throws (70) than its opponents have even attempted (52).
• The Cardinals are 11 games into a 16-game stretch that will see them face 12 teams in the top 90 of the KenPom rankings and 14 teams in the top 150. That stretch began in Maui with Arkansas and concludes Jan. 18 with Pittsburgh. As of Tuesday, the overall record of Louisville’s opponents during that stretch was 136-66.
HISTORY VS. KENTUCKY (Kentucky leads 37-17)
Last Meeting: Louisville 62, Kentucky 59
Dec. 23, 2020 | Louisville, Ky.
Carlik Jones made two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining for 20 points, David Johnson added 17 points and Louisville held off rival Kentucky 62-59.
The Cardinals led 56-49 late in the half before the Wildcats rallied to tie the game at 59-all on Isaiah Jackson’s free throw with 1:05 left. After Dre Davis made one of two free throws to put Louisville up 60-59 with 18.9 left, Olivier Sarr’s jumper rimmed out and Davion Mintz fouled Jones, who made the free throws for a three-point edge.
Brandon Boston Jr.’s wide-open 3-point attempt with a second left bounced off the rim and was rebounded by Jae’lyn Withers, helping Louisville end a three-game series losing streak while handling Kentucky its sixth consecutive loss.
Jones made 7 of 16 from the field and had five assists for the Cardinals, who shot 42%. Johnson was 5 of 10, including 3 of 4 from long range, with seven rebounds, while Withers had nine boards and eight points. Jones and Johnson combined for nine points during a second-half stretch that twice built seven-point leads before Kentucky bounced back.
Mintz had 19 points, Boston 11 and Jacob Toppin 10 with six rebounds for Kentucky (1-6), which had won 11 of 13 in the series. The Wildcats outrebounded Louisville 40-35 but edged 27-24 defensively. They also shot 34% and were just 14 of 22 from the foul line.
