Louisville Blasted by Kentucky in Battle of the Bluegrass

The Cardinals move to 0-2 against the Wildcats under head coach Kenny Payne.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Capping off a three-game home-stand with the annual Battle of the Bluegrass against Kentucky, the Louisville men's basketball program was utterly dominated in the latest chapter of the rivalry showdown, falling 95-76 Thursday at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals (5-7) are now 0-2 against the No. 9 Wildcats (9-2) under head coach Kenny Payne after dropping last season's matchup 86-63, and have lost 13 of their last 16 against UK. Meanwhile, Kentucky improves their advantage in the all-time series to 39-17.

The two programs were heading in completely different directions entering the matchup. Kentucky had recently jumped back into the top ten of the AP Poll followed a ranked win over UNC, while rumors surrounding the job status of Louisville head coach Kenny Payne have been running rampant over the last week.

As you can imagine with these two teams on opposite trajectories, Louisville stood very little chance when it came time to face off.

The Cardinals shot just 42.4 percent from the field and a paltry 4-of-17 on three-point attempts, while allowing the Wildcats to shoot 51.5 percent and 12-of-25 on threes. They were also out-rebounded 37-to-35 and gave up 19 UK points on 13 turnovers while only securing 13 points of their own on 13 forced turnovers.

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield notched his third-straight double-double with a 16-point and 11-rebound effort for Louisville, while Skyy Clark led the Cardinals in scoring with 20. Mike James also finished 12, and Kentucky's Antonio Reeves led all scorers with 30.

Early on the contest, Louisville looked like they were primed to pull off the upset. Over the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the game, they had solid ball movement to help go 7-of-12 from the field, were playing well on the defensive end to hold Kentucky to 5-of-14, and maintained a one-point advantage in the showdown while leading by as much as five. 

However, a critical momentum swing came in the middle of the first half. Kentucky flipped a switch on both ends of the floor, draining seven consecutive shots while forcing Louisville to miss four straight, firing off a 15-1 run in roughly three minutes to go up by 13.

Louisville was able to trim the deficit down to eight points with three minutes to go, but listless effort and confusion from the sideline down the stretch led to another run by Kentucky. Powered primarily by Reeves, who poured in 22 in the first half, the Wildcats fired off a 14-2 run to end the half and head into halftime with a 53-33 lead over the Cardinals.

In the second half, Louisville poised very little threat to Kentucky's sizable lead. They shot just 39.4 percent in the second half to the Wildcats' 48.5 percent, and the closest the Cardinals could get was within 17 points.

Next up, Louisville has a nearly two-week long break for the holidays, and won't return to action until after the New Year at Virginia. Tip-off against the Cavaliers is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Ty-Laur Johnson, D.J. Wagner: Michael Clevenger - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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