Kentucky beating Louisville in Basketball!

10-1 for 1st time in 8 yrs!

Louisville Cardinals
Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
Head Coach: Pat Kelsey overall (267-126)
Winthrop Eagles (189-95) (Big South)
Charleston Cougars (75-27) (Coastal Athletic)
1st Year at Louisville (6-4)

Schedule/Results (6-4)
11/4 vs MOREHEAD St W, 93-45
11/9 vs 12 TENNESSEE L, 77-55
11/19 vs BELLARMINE W, 100-68
11/22 vs WINTHROP W, 76-61
11/27 vs 14 Indiana (neutral) W, 89-61
11/28 vs West Virginia (neutral) W, 79-70
11/29 vs Oklahoma (neutral) L, 69-64
12/3 vs 23 OLE MISS L, 86-63
12/8 vs 9 DUKE L, 76-65
12/11 vs UTEP W, 77-74
12/14 @ 5 Kentucky: Rupp Arena (20,500)

Game Info: December 14 in Lexington, KY
Game time: 5:15pm EST
TV: ESPN (Dan Shulman & Jay Bilas)
Spectrum Cable: Channel 28 DISH Network: Channel 140
DirecTV: Channel 206 U-verse: Channel 1602
Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach & Jack Givens)
Radio Over the air: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Satellite radio: XM Channel 190, Internet Channel 960
Louisville broadcast: XM Channel 371

Probable Starters
#24 G Chucky Hepburn 6-2 190 Sr 14.1pts, 3.3reb, 4.8ast, 3.2stl, 32.6% 3fg
#6 G Reyne Smith 6-2 190 Sr 12.1pts, 3.1reb, 37.1% 3fg
#1 G J’Vonne Hadley 6-6 215 5th Yr Sr 9.8pts, 8.0reb, 1.8ast, 25.0% 3fg
#0 F James Scott 6-11 220 So 7.0pts, 5.8reb, 1.1ast, 0.0% 3fg
#93 F Noah Waterman 6-11 230 6th Ye Sr 6.2pts, 4.1reb, 1.0blk, 22.0% 3fg

Key Reserves
#5 G Terrence Edwards Jr. 6-6 205 5th Yr Sr 12.9pts, 3.2reb, 2.1ast, 26.1% 3fg
#9 F Khani Rooths 6-8 205 Fr 4.1pts, 3.3reb, 18.2% 3fg
#13 C Frank Anselem-Ibe 6-10 220 5th Yr Sr 0.3pts, 1.0reb, 0.0% 3fg
OUT #7 F Kasean Pryor 6-10 225 5th Yr Sr 12.0pts, 6.1reb, 2.1ast, 1.6stl, 15.2% 3fg

Team Statistics
Points per game 76.0
Points allowed 68.1
Scoring margin +7.9
Field goal pct .428
FG% allowed .422
3-point FG pct .282
3FG% allowed .329
Free throw pct .707
Rebounds per game 38.7
Rebounds allowed 34.7
Rebounding margin +4.0
Assists per game 13.6
Turnovers per game 13.3
Turnovers forced 15.6
Turnover margin +2.2
Assist/turnover ratio 1.0
Steals per game 8.0
Blocks per game 3.4

KenPom Analysis
Overall rating: #59
Offense: #79
Defense: #42
Best Numbers
Off 2pt%: #13
Def Non-Steal TO%: #24
Off Rebounding %: #35
Worst Numbers
Off 3pt%: #341 (27%)
Off Turnover%: #224
Def 3pt%: #213 (33.9%)
Off Effective FG%: #205

Analysis: Well, for many the biggest game of the year is here. It’s Kentucky. It’s Louisville. It’s ESPN. It’s Shulman and Bilas (and Rupp Arena soft serve ice cream will get a cameo). The state of Kentucky’s 2 most historic teams and 2 of the greatest programs in men’s college basketball. UK comes in sporting a #5 ranking in the latest AP poll, with a 9-1 overall record, with huge neutral site wins over Duke and Gonzaga. Louisville comes in with a 6-4 record with big neutral site wins over Indiana and West Virginia but 20+ point losses to Tennessee and Ole Miss, an 11pt loss to Duke and a close loss to Oklahoma on a neutral court. I didn’t realize it before I started preparing this, but this will be this Louisville team’s first true road game of the season.

Both teams have an injury or two that are significant. As we know, the Cats are definitely missing PG Kerr Kriisa for this game and could potentially be missing Lamont Butler if he’s not quite healed from his ankle injury. We’re all hoping he will be back for this game. Meanwhile, Louisville has lost starting forward Kasean Pryor a 6-10 225 5th Year Senior who was averaging 12.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals to a season-ending ACL injury. They are also missing Aboubacar Traore (broken arm) and Koren Johnson (shoulder). Traore was a starter to begin the season, though Johnson was not quite as important to the team. The Cardinals only played a total of 8 players in their last game versus UTEP, which they won 77-74, and big man Anselem-Ibe only played 5 minutes. So, it’s basically a 7-man rotation.

Those hoping for an absolute slaughter of Louisville in Rupp on Saturday afternoon may be disappointed, though we’re all hoping for domination. Even without these injured players, the Cardinals have been competitive against most everyone, Tennessee and Ole Miss not withstanding. Even against Duke, and without the players I’ve mentioned here, they still were competitive. In fact, they had a lead until about the 8-minute mark in that game when Duke finally began to assert itself and pushed a lead to double-digits and held a comfortable lead to the end.

Looking at Louisville, one thing that jumps out is that play hard on defensive every time down the floor and on offense they will shoot threes all day. They are actually accomplishing what Mark Pope wants UK to do. They’re averaging 30 threes a game. (31.8 to be exact). Problem is, they’re making less than 9 threes a game and shooting 27%. That makes them a very inefficient team. But the problem is, if those threes are falling, they are a threat.

Looking at personnel, the top scorer on the team is their point guard #24 Chucky Hepburn, a 6-2 190lb Senior averaging 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 3.2 steals, and shooting 33.3% from 3. He is leading the team in point, assists, and steals. He does a little bit of everything for the team. His backcourt mate is #6 shooting guard Reyne Smith, a 6-2 190lb Senior averaging 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and shooting 37.1% from 3. He has shot 81 threes on the season, which is nearly double the number of attempts of anyone else on the team. The small forward is #1 J’Vonne Hadley a 6-6 215lb 5th Year Senior averaging 9.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and shoots 25.0% from 3. Down low, the Cards have a pair of 6-11 forwards starting. #0 James Scott is a 6-11 220lb Sophomore averaging 7.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and doesn’t shoot threes. The other starter was a player for Mark Pope last season at BYU. It’s #93 Noah Waterman a 6-11 230lb 6th Year Senior averaging 6.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.0 block, and shooting 22.0% from 3.

From the bench, the top scorer is #5 Guard Terrence Edwards Jr. a 6-6 205lb 5th Year Senior averaging 12.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and shooting 26.1% from 3. Honestly, Edwards is averaging more minutes than all but 2 of the starters, so we’ll be seeing quite a bit of him. He’s pretty much subs in for both the 2 and the 3, which is why he’s out there a lot. The other 2 bench guys are big men: #9 F Khani Rooths a 6-8 205lb Freshman averaging 4.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and shooting 18.2% from 3 and #13 Frank Anselem-Ibe a 6-10 220lb 5th Year Senior who isn’t playing or contributing much.

I fully expect Louisville to be playing this game like their hair is on fire. As we heard from Terrence Edwards this week, this is their biggest game of the season and if Louisville fans had to pick one win for the season, this is it. He even said playing against UK is the only reason he signed with UL. They will be giving maximum effort all night. If we had our entire team, I’d say just run those 10 guys out there and wear these guys out, but if we’re missing Lamont Butler, I don’t think that would be an advisable strategy. UK has a bunch of better shooters than Louisville has, but that won’t stop the Cards from firing up 30+ from downtown. If those threes are falling at any decent percentage, it could be a tough game. If UK’s threes are falling like we know they can, it could become a dominant win for UK. What will happen? Haslametrics predicts UK 84 UL 70. EvanMiya projects UK 83 UL 70. Bart Torvik says UK 84- UL 73. KenPom predicts UK 83-UL 72. DRatings has UK winning 87-79.

My prediction: Kentucky 90 UofL 80

We are going to be haaaard to beat with shooting like that!

Cutter Boley, playing in front of 100,000 fans was so much more comfortable than Brock Vandagriff, and seemed like he understood the offense better. Hamdan seemed to call a completely different game while Cutter was at QB. Looked like he may have been more comfortable with Cutter at QB . I haved feeling Stoops was to loyal to Brock and it has cost the team in preformance from the most important position. Very odd, IMO, that a true freshman seems so much more comfortable than a upper classmen.

Matt Jones was wondering if Brock was done with football. You guys likely knew but I did not that Brock played almost all year with an injure throwing shoulder that limited him. The concussion he suffered at the Tennessee game was definitely worse than I knew.

Begs the question why played a QB with an injured throwing arm? AND did no one anywhere at any time work with the backups?

** Feeling good about Kentucky's chances to land Arkansas OL Joshua Braun. As mentioned, he is being recruited to be a staring guard and the cross-training at center has to be appealing given what happened with Luke Fortner in his last year with the program. But I think he will be a guard. The number I heard was four offensive linemen from the portal so they could take Braun and still end up with two tackles and a center.

** As mentioned elsewhere, hearing there are 6-7 offensive linemen who are in line to take official visits to Kentucky.

** There is a center who is not in the portal yet who I believe is the most likely player to man that spot in the future. My understanding is everybody is going about things the correct ways, probably more so than ever because of Stoops' contract, but things are happening at Kentucky the same as they are happening everywhere else.

** I mentioned Calzada at Incarnate Word as being interesting. There is a west coast quarterback in the portal with good starting who is also not yet in the portal. If he goes in, I would expect him to be a serious candidate at quarterback as well.

** From everything I have heard Kentucky seems to be in good shape with Marshall LB Justyn Watson and also Sam Houston State defensive lineman Chris Murray. If they can lock those two guys down, and they're visiting this week, it would go a long way towards bolstering the front seven but they wouldn't be done of course.

** Mentioned in another post that Illinois State defensive lineman Steven Curtis will officially visit Kentucky in addition to Cincinnati, Boston College, and Minnesota.

** New Mexico OL Wallace Unamba is supposed to officially visit soon but the question is would they take him if Braun is on board. He's another interior offensive lineman and tackles are the priority.

** You see the trickiness of the portal with what happened with Nevada OT Isaiah World. He was going to visit and I think Kentucky had a good chance but Ohio State gets involved and it flips quickly. That's why you can't count anything too early. Will be lots of twists, turns, and dominoes.

I hate that man. A made basket shouldn’t be a stoppage in play just so you can go to the under-4 timeout. It kills momentum. We should have had the opportunity to go down and get a stop with the crowd back up.

Asked a friend today how he felt about the Louisville game. He said that he feels really good because you have to beat our team AND our coach. Then he asked “How many points a game do you think Pope is worth?”

I’m not sure how to quantify what his value to each game in terms of points. On average maybe 4-6 points a game?

Thanks

Once again, espn puts games back to back. So ku/ncst is on before u6/UK. How much of our game will we miss?

Would LOVE to see our team get that shooting eye back to where it was to start the season and make those bunnies we've been missing lately too.

If we can, it will be a fun one to watch. If we continue to struggle making shots, the Cards can hang around and anything can happen.

And I don't care what ANYBODY tries to tell you, this IS a HUGE game for #BBN!!!

Let's go CATS!!!

That’s crazy!

Literally no one in the stands on one side of Little John

… Memphis just beat Clemson at Clemson …. Memphis has wins over UConn, Michigan State, Missouri. and now Clemson … losses to Auburn and Arkansas State.

What is something that you're grateful or thankful for from our coaches beside a championship. Make it a postive one even though it may be hard for one.

Rupp-making UK the basketball empire it became
Hall-becoming a great ambassador for UK. Kind of like the papaw everyone wanted
Sutton-coining the phrase "little brother"
Pitino-restoring the UK basketball machine from a dark time and being just ate up with obsession of winning
Tubby-being a great leader of young men
BCG-this one is hard but maybe being so grateful and appreciative of the opportunity but just wasn't ready
Cal-bringing the passion and energy when it was really needed when he got here. I think he got us then.
Pope-truly understanding the assignment as he says. He gets it. Will be relentless in this pursuit.

Also, in UK vs UL history.

Can be by UK player or the opponent.


Off top of my head, I’m thinking in UK-UL game Aaron’s game winning 3.

And in any game there are several, led by Laettner shot. Padgett 3 vs Duke, could make case for Woods bank in vs Duke, obviously any of Aaron’s back-to-back-to-back 3pt game winning 3’s. Nazr missed FT. What others you got?

Up 36 with 5;34 to go. Is Bradshaw injured?

Anyone have any info other than what was said at the press conference? I recognize that there is absolutely a play where coaches are just acting like they are unsure so UL has to prepare for the possibility of either scenario.

But I don’t like the possibility of not having a point guard in a game like this. If butler is anywhere near close to go then they need to tape it up and play him.

Opened at 11.5. I guessed 13 based on kenpom plus home court.

I hope I’m wrong but I’m going UL on the spread. They have guys who are good shooters, but bad so far this season. Waterman understands pope and could give them some insight, plus I’m worried he will get hot from three whereas he’s been awful all season so far.

UL rebounds the ball well; and we’ve struggled with that at times.

Butler being rusty could hurt, and I’m not sold that he’s going to play. If he doesn’t play, Hepburn could be a real problem to guard and could cause our offense some issues.

All three have a ton of talent, and if they stick with it will be real nice college players.

But right at this moment they are out of sync with the flow of the game. Rushing shots. Overplaying and missing defensive position. These three are really true freshmen and are going to have to figure it at their own pace. All 3 hustle, all 3 want to do well. Their time will eventually come….perhaps even this year. As of last night though they struggled.
In this day of transfer with immediate eligibility they may not stay. I hope they do. They have skills. Not Chapman or Sheppard skills but that’s pretty high level. I’m more than willing to be patient and hope they are as well.

KY 88
LOU 74

GO CATS !!

Does that spread not seem a little high for a rivalry game with us probably going without our 2 point guards again? Is Louisville really that bad and the Atlantis tournament just a fluke? I haven’t watched them much

In Popes 1st year? Entirely new team, no real recruiting class, etc…

I only had 3:

1. Beat Louisville. They started from scratch just like us. Definitely not a gimme.

2. Beat Ark and have an all around better season. (Better seed and go further in tourney)

3. 7 seed or better and win a game or two in the tournament.

Now….expectations have already changed a little. Let’s get #1 out of the way today!