Cardinals Host No. 9 Kentucky on Thursday in Rivalry Matchup

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville men's basketball concludes its play in 2023 with a rivalry matchup against No. 9 Kentucky at 6 p.m. ET Thursday at the KFC Yum! Center. The game will air on ESPN.

The Cardinals are coming off a dominant 85-63 victory over Pepperdine on Sunday that snapped a three-game slide. Kentucky most recently edged North Carolina 87-83 in a top-25 neutral-site contest.

Louisville is 17-38 all-time against Kentucky, while the Wildcats have won 12 of the last 15 meetings. Louisville has not hosted in the series since 2020, and hasn't hosted Kentucky at the KFC Yum! Center without attendance restrictions since 2018.

GAME 12

#9 Kentucky (8-2) at Louisville (5-6)
December 21, 2023 | 6 p.m. CT
KFC Yum! Center | Louisville, Ky.

MEDIA INFO

Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship); Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Bob Valvano, analysis)

Watch: ESPN (Wes Durham, pxp | Jimmy Dykes, analysis)

Live Stats: Louisville Stats

TICKETS

Single-Game Tickets | Season Tickets

TOP STORYLINES

• Louisville head coach Kenny Payne spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach and later associate head coach at Kentucky from 2010-20 under coach John Calipari. The Wildcats went a combined 295-73 during Payne's time with the program, reaching six NCAA Elite Eights and four Final Fours, and claiming the 2012 national championship.

• Payne's son, Louisville graduate senior guard/forward Zan Payne, previously spent four seasons at Kentucky. After missing the first two years due to injury, Payne played in 11 total games during his final two seasons as a Wildcat.

• Kentucky freshman guard D.J. Wagner is the grandson of Louisville's Director of Player Development and Alumni Relations Milt Wagner. Milt's son and D.J.'s father, Dajuan, played for Calipari at the University of Memphis.

• No. 9 Kentucky will be the second ranked team that Louisville has played this season following No. 19 Texas. The Cardinals are 62-77 against top-25 teams over the last 14 years. They've won 23 of their last 58 games against top-10 teams.

• Over the last two games, junior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is averaging 20 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 56% from the field and 80% from the free-throw line (20-25). He ranks 33rd in the country in total rebounds (101).

• In Louisville's first three games, sophomore guard Skyy Clark averaged 11 points per game while going 0-for-8 from 3-point range and 7-for-13 from the free-throw line. In the last eight games, Clark is averaging 17.0 points per game while shooting 15-for-47 from long range and 39-for-44 (89%) from the stripe.

• In the last eight games, freshman guard Ty-Laur Johnson has totaled 33 assists against just 16 turnovers. Johnson had just five total assists and eight turnovers in the Cardinals' first three outings. Since 2010, Johnson is just the third Louisville freshman to have at least four games with five-plus assists, joining NBA Draft picks David Johnson (eight times in 2019-20) and Terry Rozier (four times in 2013-14).

• After allowing UMBC and Chattanooga to make 25 of 55 combined 3-pointers (45.5%) in the first two games, the Cardinals have held their last nine opponents to a combined 41-for-175 from 3-point range (23.4%). As of Tuesday, Louisville ranked 34th in the country in 3-point defense at 28.7% overall.

HISTORY VS. KENTUCKY (UofL trails 17-38)

Last Meeting: Kentucky 86, Louisville 63
Dec. 31, 2022 | Lexington, Ky.

Louisville men's basketball struggled on the boards and couldn't contain a formidable Kentucky duo, falling 86-63 in the road rivalry matchup.

The Cardinals were outrebounded 33-20 and didn't have an answer for Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe (24 points, 14 rebounds) and Jacob Toppin (24 points, seven rebounds).

Senior guard El Ellis had 23 points and a career-high four steals for the Cardinals, but No. 19/17 Kentucky shot 60% from the field for the game and totaled 20 second-chance points.

The Wildcats led wire-to-wire, jumping out to an 18-4 advantage early until Louisville stopped the bleeding.

Cardinals Host No. 9 Kentucky on Thursday in Rivalry Matchup

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Players Mentioned

Skyy Clark

El Ellis

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

Ty-Laur Johnson

Zan Payne

University of Louisville Athletics