Cards Visit Cats in Battle of the Bluegrass

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville men's basketball is set for the 57th edition of the Battle of the Bluegrass on Saturday evening when it takes on No. 5 Kentucky in Lexington. The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 5:15 p.m.

The Cardinals recently beat UTEP 77-74 on Wednesday night to get back in the win column. The Wildcats have won back-to-back games, the most recent being against Colgate, also on Wednesday night.

This is the fifth game Louisville has played against ranked competition this season. The Cardinals are 98-88 all-time against current SEC membership.

Louisville trails 17-39 in the all-time series, with a 5-21 record in Lexington. The Cardinals last won in the series on Dec. 26, 2020 and last won in Lexington on Jan. 5, 2008.

GAME 11
Louisville (6-4, 0-1 ACC) vs. #5 Kentucky (9-1, 0-0 SEC)
Saturday, December 14 | 5:15 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena | Lexington, Ky.

MEDIA INFORMATION/LINKS
Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship);
Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Bob Valvano, analysis)
Watch: ESPN (Dan Shulman, pxp | Jay Bilas, analysis)
Live Stats: Kentucky Statbroadcast

TOP STORYLINES

Both Noah Waterman and Aly Khalifa on the Louisville squad played for Kentucky head coach Mark Pope last season at BYU. While Khalifa is redshirting, Waterman will face former teammate Jaxson Robinson on the court.
Senior guard Chucky Hepburn was named ACC Player of the Week on Dec. 2 and was one of five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week after his stellar performance in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Louisville could play six ranked teams before January 2.
Louisville's 89-61 victory over No. 14/15 Indiana in the quarterfinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis was Louisville's first win over a ranked team since beating No. 19/20 Virginia Tech 73-71 on Jan. 6, 2021. It's the highest ranked opponent the Cards have beat since beating No. 3 Duke 79-73 on Jan. 18, 2020.
In the win over Indiana, UofL's Chucky Hepburn logged 16 points, 10 assists and seven steals. He's the first DI player with at least those marks since Markquis Nowell of Kansas State did it against West Virginia with 23 points on Dec. 31, 2022.
All four of Louisville's losses are to teams now in the top 20 in the AP Poll: No. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 Duke, No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 19 Ole Miss.
As of Dec. 13, Louisville is seventh in the country in three point attempts per game (31.8) and 40th in turnovers forced per game (15.5). Chucky Hepburn is second in the country in steals per game at 3.20, and third in total steals with 32. Reyne Smith is 24th in the country in 3-pointers per game at 3.3 and 11th in total three point attempts.
Against Winthrop on Nov. 22, Louisville logged 10 blocks, including seven in the first half. Sophomore James Scott blocked five on his own. The 10 total, seven in a half and Scott's five were all the first time those feats happened for the Cardinals since March 7, 2018 against Florida State.
Fifth-year senior forward Kasean Pryor tore his ACL and will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Junior guard Koren Johnson tore his labrum and will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Louisville has 11 players who were on teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The roster in total has made 14 NCAA Division I Tournament appearances at their previous schools, playing in 20 NCAA Tournament games across their careers

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Players Mentioned

Chucky Hepburn

Koren Johnson

Aly Khalifa

Kasean Pryor

James Scott

Reyne Smith

Noah Waterman

University of Louisville Athletics