Jaland Lowe (Vicky Graff Photo)
No matter what you thought of former Kentucky coach John Calipari he did do one thing that BBN should always appreciate — he owned the series with Louisville.
Once he became the Kentucky coach in 2009, Kentucky lost only three times to the Cardinals. And then Mark Pope kept the winning against the Cards going in 2024 in his first season as Kentucky’s coach with a 93-85 victory in Rupp Arena.
UK has dominated the Battle of the Bluegrass, winning 10 of the last 12, including three in a row, going into tonight’s game in the Yum Center which is only the second time in 10 years that both teams have been ranked. Both teams are considered potential Final Four teams but in recent years no matter who was considered the best team, Kentucky has usually won.
“It’s a big game. We’re very much aware,” second-year Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said Monday. “You guys have heard me in press conferences many times say the most important game in the history of Louisville basketball is the next one we play. The next one we play is against our rival in a really big setting, under a really big spotlight.”
The spotlight got a bit brighter when Louisville forward Kasean Pryor, who was injured and did not play against UK last season, added some spice with his postgame comments after he had six points and three rebounds in 16 minutes against Jackson State last week in his first appearance since injuring his knee almost a year ago.
“See you guys Thursday, after a win,” Pryor said as he left the press conference before adding a ‘f*** them” about Kentucky.
Kentucky senior Otega Oweh saw Pryor’s comments.
“I’m on social media, I see it all, it’s cool,” Oweh said Monday. “I just can’t wait to see them. That’s all.
“It’s a normal game, it’s a normal game for all of us. So I’m not gonna change my routine.”
Kentucky sophomore Collin Chandler, who did not play against Louisville last year, remembers tempers flaring early in last year’s game. He said it is “super important” for UK to maintain discipline in emotional situations.
“Because emotions can run high and can lead to you not being in the game. That’s part of the worst-case scenario for us, so it’s just gonna take self-discipline. As a competitor, emotions are high, but I’m not too worried about that,” Chandler said. “I don’t know what their goals are with that, but we’re just going and trying to win.”
Kelsey said his team is aware of the stakes involved in tonight’s game but the Cardinals’ approach does not change.
“We’re just excited about the opportunity. It’s going to be a big-time college game and a big-time college atmosphere. They’re going to find out a lot about themselves, as are we by the end of it. The whole season is a marathon, not a sprint,” Kelsey said.
Kelsey was vague about whether 6-foot-7 J’Vonne Hadley would play after missing the last game due to concussion protocol. He said he was “hopeful” but that Hadley was still being evaluated by medical personnel.
Louisville will have guard Mikel Brown, the highest rated freshman on either team. He’s considered a likely lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. However, Kelsey knows how good Kentucky is, especially with point guard Jaland Lowe not healthy and playing.
“They’re very good. They’re very well-coached. They have positional size. They’re strong. They’re athletic. They’re physical from a defensive perspective and they’re good in their system from an offensive perspective,” Kelsey said.
“They’re very talented in a lot of ways, like us. They’re very deep, very fast on the offensive end. They’re very good in transition. Even before I turned on the tape and started watching them, obviously you knew the caliber of talent they have.”
Lowe played against Louisville last year when he was the starting point guard at Pittsburgh.
“He’s a terrific point guard. Very explosive, very good in the pick and roll, quick burst, veteran. He’s been a part of a bunch of big games. He presents a lot of problems, and we have to do a great job with him,” Kelsey said.
Lowe scored 37 points in two games against Louisville last year but was just 2-for-13 from 3. He also had 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the two games.
9 Responses
Only if they get mean and play angry. Louisville is pissed off at how they have been dominated by the Cats. They also look back at last season and the Georgetown exhibition game of this season. The teams that beat Kentucky literally beat us up. Press, overplay on defense, be physical and the Wildcats will become Mildcats. Every team we will play will have that opinion unless we prove them wrong and there is no better time to do that than tonight. Attack on defense, own the boards, get out fast and run, take the open 3s, and make your foul shots. That is how we win tonight. That is how we win No. 9!
We will learn a lot about our team tonight. Louisville is appropriately favored to win this game, but the advantage is mostly home court advantage factors.
I believe UL is an Elite 8 type of team. My hope for this UK team is a final four type of team, and if that is the case, the Cats will either win this game or lose by only a handful of points if they lose.
Any loss more significant than a close one lost at the end will not be a good sign for this team.
In the 2 exhibitions, we saw two different teams. In the first 2 games whe saw two different teams. Who can know what team will show up tonight.
That's why they play the game.
Play solid fundamental basketball with really good execution and let the chips fall where they may.
We are much better on the defensive end this year! Looking forward to this one!
Halftime observations. We can't keep in front of the man we are guarding. That requires help defense and good passing beats help defense EVERY time. We are having trouble guarding off screens. We need to switch everything to keep from losing contact with the screenee and screener, Diobubate needs to stop shooting 3s…it's an automatic turnover. Garrison looks lost at times; especially when he is put in pick and roll defense. Pope has to find 5 dogs who play well together and sub as needed for breathers and foul trouble. Lowe, Aberdeen, Oweh, Jelavic, and Moreno have been the best 5 so far. Brown and Conwell are killing us. How about throwing a zone at them for a change of pace and look? This game will be won or lost by how much our defense improves. Go Cats.
Final observations. This game was lost on Monday. Kelsey had his team ready to play; Pope did not. Dioubate should not shoot any more 3s; he should take his man into the lane where he has the advantage. Way too many turnovers by Oweh; he tried to force the issue instead of trusting his teammates. Late game turnovers by Lowe and a front end miss of a 1&1, then allowing Brown to make a 3 point play sealed the loss. For now, Lowe is a defensive liability. Aberdeen and Chandler upped their games. Williams has earned more playing time. Johnson took some forced shots from 3 that he didn't have to take. Noah is the forgotten man. We shot 35% from 3 on 12/34. Louisville shot 32% from 3 but took 40 shots from the arc making 13. Louisville had 15 more free throws and made 9 more than we did. We had 8 more turnovers. 3 + 9 + a possible 16…How did we only lose by 8???
That is our second bitchslapping in 5 games. It's time to stop playing checkers in practice and focus on playing basketball. Now we will find out if this team has heart and a desire to win. Luckily, this was only our 3rd game. If we get our act together and win most of our other marquee games (go 11-2 pre-conference), we can still go into SEC play with confidence, but EVERYBODY is going to come at us hard. Will we toughen up enough to take the pounding and prevail? This game was more about mental toughness and being aggressive. We fell short on both counts. Now get back to work and do our University proud.
P.S. Quaintance needs to play in our next game even if it is only a couple of minutes each half. Add 2 minutes to each game thereafter until he is up to 16 minutes a game. He won't be ready for SEC competition keeping him out. He is a tank for pete's sake…let him play!!!
Pope is coaching with his heart, not with his head. Garrison, Dioubate, and Oweh hurt the team more than they helped it tonight. Moreno and Jelavic should have played more. What woke up Williams? He had shown nothing up until tonight. If he and Jelavic had gotten 8 more minutes each, we might have won tonight. Oweh is struggling with teams keying on him. It might do the 3 amigos good to not start the Eastern Illnois game. Nothing gets a kid's attention like being benched at the start of a game. Let them earn the right to start against Michigan State. Johnson would have got more minutes if he had focused on stopping Brown instead of throwing up wild 3s. This team, including Pope, needs a check up from the neck up. Tom Izzo won't say it out loud, but he is already thanking God for giving him a dysfunctional Kentucky team to play on the 18th.
One game.. win you move on. Lose you move on.. We'll see them again in the tournament I'd almost guarantee.
Comments are closed.