When Calipari’s young Cats face archrival Louisville tonight in the Yum Center, however, the challenge will be much different from the one United Kingdom has faced to this point, and not just because this will be its first true road test. This is the final warm-up game for both teams before they kick off their respective conference schedules.
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History, terrific coaches, contrasting styles of play, and 10-1 records.
Kentucky looked bad defensively against UCLA and North Carolina.
The 6-foot-10 forward from Little Washington, North Carolina, almost posted a double-double with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds, including a team-high four offensive rebounds. Monk set a United Kingdom freshman record with 47 points in the Wildcats’ 103-100 win over North Carolina Saturday, while Fox added 24 points and 10 assists.
A lot of schools had finals, so college basketball had a little lull until Saturday, which made up for a lack of great games during the week.
This is the first win for Louisville in the rivalry since the 2012-13 season, when the Cardinals topped the Wildcats, 80-77, in late December.
Louisville come into this game winners of five straight but have not faced the fiercest of competition. They’re better than us right now. North Carolina C Tony Bradley, who entered the game leading the nation in offensive-rebounding percentage, finished with four rebounds, two on the offensive end.
The Cardinals were led by guard Quentin Snider, who had the team’s first 20-point game of the season. Johnathan Motley had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead five double-digit scorers, and No. 4 Baylor (12-0) finished its ideal run through nonconference play with a 89-63 victory over Texas Southern (4-9).
Premier production from Monk and Fox. Eleven seconds into the second half he picked up his second; within the next seven minutes he had two more and headed for the bench with four. United Kingdom tied it at 53 on a dunk by Bam Adebayo, who had 11 point and 9 rebounds.
That’ll be a challenge for this Kentucky team, which plays faster than any of Calipari’s previous United Kingdom editions. You have to win the game. During that game, with a big lead, Calipari had Adebayo go to the line to shoot technical foul shots for the Wildcats. Louisville would never relinquish the lead.
“The interesting thing about all four of those opponents is how incredibly different they are”. In the next few possessions, United Kingdom gave up two offensive rebounds that led to a Louisville field goal, Fox missed a free throw, Adebayo missed two free throws, Adebayo missed another free throw and Snider drove by Adebayo for an easy score and 69-64 lead with 1:42 to go.
Louisville rode a balanced scoring attack where four starters finished in double-figures. It is much less reliant on its starting five than Kentucky is. Q’s Go/ Stop/ Go hesitation slash to the hoop gave U of L a six point “cushion” at 69-63.
The defense – specifically the pick-and-roll defense – is part of why Kentucky lost to the Cardinals. Pitino, on the other hand, has struggled, losing every regular season matchup against the Wildcats except one, and dropping two in the NCAA tournament. The Louisville native’s final basket was lovely, a fake ending with a drive for a 69-63 lead that proved critical in withstanding Kentucky’s furious final rally.
Two out of the last three times the Wildcats have visited their hated foes, they have left town with a victory. Rick Pitino’s team is now ranked No. 6 in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one).
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