FINAL: Antonio Reeves scores season-high in No. 9 Kentucky's 95-76 win over Louisville

Kenny Payne’s seat just got a little bit hotter…

On Thursday night at the KFC Yum! Center, No. 9 Kentucky men’s basketball (9-2) went into rival territory and beat up on the Louisville Cardinals (5-7), winning by a final score of 95-76. Louisville was able to keep the game tight through the first 10 minutes, but it was all Wildcats the rest of the way. John Calipari is now 13-3 against the Cards during his time as head coach at UK.

Kentucky was powered by a season-high 30 (10-16 FG) points from fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves, who poured in 22 of those in the opening half. He was aided by a double-double performance from fellow fifth-year Tre Mitchell, who finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Kentucky had three more double-figure scorers: Justin Edwards (13) and Rob Dillingham (12) while Reed Sheppard contributed 11 points and a career-high 11 assists — the most assists ever by one player in this historic series.

As a team, UK shot 51.5 percent from the field, 12-25 (48 percent) from beyond the arc, and 13-16 (81.3 percent) from the free throw line. The Wildcats held Louisville to just a 4-17 (23.5 percent) mark from distance and dominated the battle in the paint, 40-26. UL turned the ball over 13 times, which Kentucky flipped into 19 points.

Louisville came out of the gates ready to cool off Kenny Payne’s blazing hot seat. The Cardinals rattled off a quick 5-0 lead as Kentucky looked tight on both ends. They’d loosen up fast though. Reeves made the first of his four first-half triples to tie the score at 5-5 as both teams were off to the races.

Midway through the opening half, Louisville was still keeping it close, even leading 17-16 with 11 minutes until the break. But it was all Kentucky from there. An ensuing 15-1 run by the ‘Cats was a killer for UL. Just like that, UK led by double-digits and kept its foot on the gas. The fourth and final three-pointer of the half for Reeves came right before the buzzer to give Kentucky a 53-33 lead at the intermission — UK’s second-largest halftime lead in the history of the series.

Reeves led all scorers after 20 minutes of action with a lethal 22 points on 9-10 shooting (4-4 3PT). Sheppard pitched in eight points and six assists of his own while Mitchell added 10 points and six rebounds. DJ Wagner and Dillingham played just 11 combined minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.

Kentucky would score the first five points of the second half to go up by 25, but Louisville would make one final push. The Wildcats went nearly three minutes without a field goal while UL cut its deficit down to 19. It would dip as low as 17 points before Kentucky punched back, extending the advantage back out to 20-plus with roughly 12 minutes left.

And that was all she wrote. The Wildcats’ lead would continue to hover around 20 points the rest of the night before settling on the 19-point victory. Up next, Kentucky will take another week off before turning to Rupp Arena on Dec. 29 for a matchup against Illinois State.