Men's Basketball Tangles with No. 18 Kentucky on Saturday
December 27, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2013
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Rick Pitino: Video | Audio | Podcast
Russ Smith: Video | Audio | Podcast
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville and Kentucky, winners of the last two men's basketball national championships, take to the court at Rupp Arena on Saturday for the 46th annual Battle of the Bluegrass, with tip set for 4 p.m. in Lexington.
The Dec. 28 game will air on CBS, with Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Greg Anthony (analyst), and Tracy Wolfson (sideline) calling the action. Doug Ormay (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) will announce the game on WKRD 790 AM.
Currently, Kentucky leads the all-time series with Louisville 30-15. The Wildcats have won four of the last five meetings, with the Cardinals taking the last matchup in an 80-77 decision at home on Dec. 29, 2012. Russ Smith scored a team-high 21 points, and Chane Behanan was 8-of-13 shooting for 20 points. Louisville's defense forced 15 turnovers and converted that into 19 points.
No. 6/4 Louisville (11-1) defeated FIU 85-56 in the Cardinals' last game on Dec. 21, pushing the Cardinals' winning streak to six. Louisville shot 48.1 percent from the field in the win, knocking down a season-best 13 3-pointers. Defensively, Louisville caused 20 FIU turnovers and translated that into 22 points.
Smith paced the Cardinals with 18 points, 12 of which came from long range, in the win. Wayne Blackshear added 13 points, and Mangok Mathiang had six points and seven rebounds.
Individually, Smith is leading the Cardinals in scoring at 16.8 points per game, while ranking first on the squad with 60 assists. Chris Jones (13.5 points), Montrezl Harrell (12.5 points), and Blackshear (10.3) points also are averaging double-digit points. Harrell, meanwhile, ranks eighth in the country with a 63.9 field goal percentage.
Team-wise, Louisville ranks among the nation's best in scoring margin (No. 1, +26.2), turnover margin (No. 1, +9.4), turnovers per game (No. 4, 9.2), assist/turnover ratio (No. 7, 1.68), and total steals (No. 9, 117).
Kentucky, which ranks No. 18 in both major polls, owns a 9-3 record this season after beating Belmont 90-83 on Dec. 21. The Wildcats are 3-2 in their last five contests.
Against Belmont, Julius Randle led all scorers with 29 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. He went 8-of-10 from the field and connected on 13 of his 19 free-throw attempts. Aaron Harrison added 23 points in the victory, and Willie Cauley-Stein chipped in with 16 points and seven boards.
The Wildcats shot 55.2 percent from the field, but hit just 3 of 14 3-pointers. Kentucky finished with a sizeable margin on the boards, winning the rebounding battle 42-25.
This season, Randle leads the team and averages a double-double of 18.2 points and 11.3 rebounds. He ranks first in the country with nine double-double tallies.
Aaron Harrison is contributing 15.1 points per game, James Young is adding 13.4 points, and Andrew Harrison also is in double figures with 10.6 points per game. Cauley-Stein is fifth in the country with 4.17 blocks per game.
The Wildcats, under the direction of fifth-year coach John Calipari, are second in the country in free throw attempts (415; nearly 36 per game), fourth in free throws made (280), third in total blocks (89), and fifth in rebounding margin (+12.8).
GAME FACTS - Louisville at Kentucky
Date: Saturday, Dec. 28
Time: 4 p.m. ET
Site: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky. (23,000)
TV: CBS will broadcast the game, with Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Greg Anthony (analyst), and Tracy Wolfson (sideline) calling the action.
Radio: WKRD 790 AM will broadcast the game, with Doug Ormay (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) calling the action. The broadcast also is available on SIRIUS channel 85 and XM channel 86.
Series History: Kentucky leads 30-15 (11-8 in Louisville, 16-5 in Lexington, 3-2 neutral).
Next UofL Game: Tuesday, Dec. 31 at UCF, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
