Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Kentucky Wildcats

Louisville returns home to host Kentucky in the annual Battle of the Bluegrass

(Photo of KFC Yum! Center Court: Jamie Rhodes/USA TODAY Sports)

Kentucky Wildcats (1-5, 0-0 SEC) at Louisville Cardinals (5-1, 1-0 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, December 26th at 1:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: WKRD 790/WHAS 840
- Betting Favorite: To Be Determined
- All-Time Series: Kentucky leads 37-16
- Last Meeting: Kentucky won 78-70 in OT on Dec. 28, 2019 (Rupp Arena - Lexington, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• F Samuell Williamson (6-7, 210, So.)
• F Dre Davis (6-5, 220, Fr.)
• C Jae'Lyn Withers (6-8, 215, R-Fr.)
• G Carlik Jones (6-2, 185, Gr.)
• G David Johnson (6-5, 210, So.)

Kentucky

• F Isaiah Jackson (6-10, 206, Fr.)
• F Olivier Sarr (7-0, 237, Sr.)
• G BJ Boston (6-7, 185, Fr.)
• G Terrence Clarke (6-7, 194, Fr.)
• G Davion Mintz (6-3, 196, Gr.)

Main Storylines

Here are the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Louisville's matchup with Kentucky: Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Kentucky

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Wildcats, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape & Prediction: Louisville vs. Kentucky

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville will play its final scheduled non-conference game of the season and final game in 2020 as the Cardinals face intrastate rival Kentucky on Saturday in the KFC Yum! Center.
• In its first ACC game of the season, Louisville (5-1, 1-0 ACC) won 64-54 at Pittsburgh in its last game on Dec. 22 as David Johnson (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Samuell Williamson (14 points, 12 rebounds) each produced their first career double-double while pulling down career-high rebounding totals.
• The duo helped the Cardinals win the rebounding battle 45-26 over a shorthanded Pitt squad that had won five straight, but UofL committed 17 turnovers in the game.
• Louisville held a 45-26 rebounding advantage over a shorthanded Pitt team on Dec. 22, including grabbing a season-high 15 offensive rebounds. It was the largest margin for the Cardinals in a conference game since also finishing plus-19 in a win over Notre Dame on March 3, 2019. The Cardinals’ +8.3 rebounding margin is tied for second-best in the ACC (52nd in the nation).
• Louisville has won 85 of its last 89 non-conference games at home in the KFC Yum! Center, spanning the last 11 seasons.
• Louisville has started with at least a 5-1 record through six games for the 11th time in the last 13 years. The Cardinals have won at least six of its first seven games on nine occasions over the last 13 years entering Saturday’s game.
• ACC assists leader Carlik Jones is the only player in the ACC to rank among the top 20 in each of scoring (11th in the ACC, 16.0 ppg), rebounding (17th, 6.4 rpg) and assists (1st, 5.6 apg). Last season at Radford, the graduate transfer was the only player in the nation to average at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, and was one of just 16 players in Division I men’s basketball to do so since the 1996-97 season.
• Carlik Jones needs three assists for 500 in his career (28 at Louisville, 469 at Radford). He matched his season-high of seven assists at Pitt.
• Louisville has a 47-12 record in the month of December over the last eight years.
• Louisville’s 48.7 field goal percentage is fourth in the ACC (51st in the nation). Louisville has shot 50 percent or better in six of 12 halves this season.
• Carlik Jones needs three assists to reach 500 for his career (28 at Louisville, 469 at Radford).
• UofL Coach Chris Mack’s next victory will be his 50th at Louisville (49-22 record).
• Sophomore guard Josh Nickelberry made his season debut at Pitt after missing the first five games due to a knee injury. He made a three-pointer in his 10 minutes of action.
• Louisville limited Pitt to a season-low 54 points, marking the 11th time the Cardinals have held an ACC opponent under 60 points in Coach Chris Mack’s third season (UofL is 10-1 in those games). UofL is fourth in the ACC in scoring defense, allowing 61.8 points per game (40th in the nation).

Kentucky

• Kentucky is 1-5 for the first time since the 1926-27 season
• UK has lost five straight under John Calipari for the first time. It's the first five-game losing streak for the program since 1989-90
• Calipari is 20-2 against in-state programs, including 11-2 against Louisville as UK's head coach. The Wildcats have won the last three
• Davion Mintz has started the last two games and is averaging 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game in those games
• Kentucky is averaging 16.7 turnovers per game, leading to an average of 19.3 points for the opposition
• Keion Brooks Jr. remains doubtful with a left leg injury, but said recently he's "getting closer" to returning.
• KenPom.com lists UK's average lineup experience at 0.83, the fourth-most inexperienced team in the nation that has played in a game in 2020-21
• UK owns an all-time record of 37-16 against the Cards, including an 11-2 mark since John Calipari took over the reins and a three-game winning streak. Kentucky is 13-9 vs. Louisville in the Derby City and 3-2 in the Calipari era.
• Freshman forward Cam'Ron Fletcher has been suspended for conduct detrimental to the team and will not make the trip to Louisville. There is no current timetable on his return.
• UK turned the ball over 21 times and totaled just five assists -- including zero in the second half -- vs. Richmond. The five assists were tied for the lowest of the Calipari era. The Wildcats were only marginally better vs. Kansas with 16 turnovers and just eight assists but reverted vs. Georgia Tech with 21 turnovers. They again only had eight assists with 16 turnovers vs. North Carolina.
• The 100 turnovers are the second most of the Calipari era through six games. The 2009-10 team had 112 but also had 90 assists at this point. This team only has 69 so far, the lowest of any Calipari-coached UK team at this stage.
• The Wildcats are turning the ball over on 23.7% of their possessions according to KenPom.com, ranked 288th in the country. Only Davion Mintz (17 assists and 11 turnovers) and Cam'Ron Fletcher (three assists and two turnovers) have more assists than turnovers.
• With Keion Brooks Jr., who averaged 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 31 games, including six starts, as the lone major contributor to the roster from last season UK was tasked with replacing 94% of its scoring from last season. That's the most of the John Calipari era. It also had to replace 98.6% of its minutes, 84.4% of its rebounds, 92.0% of its assists and 91.5% of its blocks -- and Brooks has yet to play this season.
• The team has an average height of 77.7 inches, just a touch less than 6-6 per player. That's among John Calipari's tallest teams at Kentucky. Only the 2009-10 (79 inches), 2010-11 (78.6), 2017-18 (78.1) and 2019-20 (77.9) squads averaged more height. Remove UK's three walk-ons of Brennan Canada (78 inches), Riley Welch (72) and Kareem Watkins (68) and the average height goes up to 78.9 inches, about 6-7 per scholarship player.
• The Wildcats rank near the bottom nationally in both 3-point field goals per game (ranked 318th through games on Dec. 19 with 4.2 per game) and 3-point scoring distribution (only 19.0% of UK's points come from 3s, which is 317th thus far) and have taken 26 fewer 3-pointers than the opposition. Additionally, the Wildcats have already made five or fewer 3-pointers in four games.
• Kentucky is 282-10 (.966) in the John Calipari era when leading by at least 10 points at any time in the contest. UK has surrendered two such instances in 2020-21. The Wildcats yielded a 13-point lead in a loss to No. 7/5 Kansas on Dec. 1 and an 11-point advantage was swallowed up by No. 21/22 North Carolina on Dec. 19. Seven of the 10 losses are to conference opponents.

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