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University of Louisville
Kentucky
No. 4 Louisville Falls To No. 23 Kentucky, 73-61
December 17, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2005
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Rajon Rondo scored 25 points, setting a career high for the fourth time this season, and No. 23 Kentucky rebounded from its worst loss in 16 years to beat No. 4 Louisville 73-61 on Saturday.
Kentucky, which was in danger of dropping out of the Top 25 after a run of 87 straight poll appearances, beat its archrival in consecutive years for the first time since winning three straight over the Cardinals from 2000 to 2002.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino - who restored Kentucky basketball to glory in the 1990s as the Wildcats coach - has a 34-3 record in December games during his five seasons with Louisville. All three losses have come to Kentucky. Pitino is 1-2 at Rupp Arena as the Cardinals coach.
It was the 350th career victory for Kentucky coach Tubby Smith. He is one of seven coaches to have reached 350 wins in 15 seasons or less. His record is 350-123 in 15 seasons at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky.
Kentucky (7-3) had lost two of its previous three games, including a 26-point defeat against Indiana on Dec. 10. Smith juggled his starting lineup, inserting guard Joe Crawford, forward Sheray Thomas and center Lukasz Obrzut, and the move paid immediate dividends.
Kentucky wasted little time asserting its dominance against the Cardinals (6-1), jumping to a double-digit lead in the first 7 minutes and putting together its best all-around performance of the season one game after its worst outing.
Louisville's starting center, David Padgett, picked up two fouls in the first 88 seconds and sat on the bench the rest of the half, taking away a potential inside advantage for the Cardinals. Padgett didn't take his first shot until almost 6 minutes into the second half and his 12 points came as the Cardinals tried in vain to rally.
Meanwhile, Obrzut - one of Kentucky's much-maligned 7-footers - grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.
Louisville, playing away from home for the first time this season, made one of its first 14 shots while Kentucky jumped to a 13-3 lead. The poor shooting proved to be a trend, not an aberration - the Cardinals finished 21-of-60 from the field (35 percent).
After the initial Kentucky burst, the Cardinals scored 10 of the next 14 points to close that gap to 17-13. Then Rondo took over for Kentucky.
The sophomore point guard made a 3-pointer, converted a three-point play, then assisted on a dunk by 7-foot-3 center Shagari Alleyne, extending Kentucky's lead to 25-13.
After two Louisville baskets, it was Thomas' turn. The junior forward, who finished with a career-high 11 points, scored on a tip-in, a 3-pointer and two free throws during a 10-2 run that put Kentucky up 35-19. The Wildcats led 39-24 at halftime.
The Kentucky lead was 45-27 when Louisville's Andre McGee was called for a charging foul against Kentucky's Patrick Sparks. The call incensed Pitino, who picked up a technical foul for his vehement protest.
But even that didn't seem to motivate the Cardinals, who found themselves down by 23 points after a Crawford basket with 13:42 left. Louisville came no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Rondo went 10-of-15 from the free throw line and also had seven assists.
Taquan Dean had 14 points and six assists to lead Louisville, but finished 5-of-16 from the field.
