FINAL: Lamont Butler's 33-point performance leads No. 5 Kentucky past Louisville 93-85

When the Big Blue Nation woke up this morning, they weren’t quite sure if Lamont Butler would even play against Louisville. They’ll all sleep well tonight knowing that Butler dropped 33 points on the program’s biggest rival.

On Saturday evening in Rupp Arena, No. 5 Kentucky (10-1) held off the Louisville Cardinals (6-5) by a final score of 93-85 in what was the first rivalry matchup between these two teams of the Mark Pope and Pat Kesley eras. Butler, who missed the previous two games due to an ankle injury, was the star with his 33 points on a perfect 10-10 shooting clip, including a 6-6 mark from deep. Kentucky shot 58 percent from the field as a team and 11-21 (52 percent) from beyond the arc.

Four other Wildcats reached double figures. Otega Oweh went for 17 points while Jaxson Robinson added 12 points and eight rebounds. Koby Brea and Andrew Carr each chipped in 10 points, as well. Louisville hit a season-high 14 three-pointers, but a short rotation resulted in two Cardinals fouling out. UK dished out 15 more assists than UL.

Kentucky came out of the gate and blitzed Louisville. The Wildcats took an early nine-point lead before three minutes could even run off the clock. Kelsey called for a timeout to quiet the rowdy Rupp crowd and settle down his guys. The quick break worked. Louisville began to control the rhythm over the next several minutes, but Kentucky never squandered the lead and went ahead by as many as 12 points.

The Wildcats couldn’t quite bury Louisville though. Five missed free throws in the opening half didn’t help and neither did a 5-1 disadvantage on the offensive glass. The Cardinals were even hitting their outside shots, going 7-19 from deep in the first half. But Kentucky shot just under 70 percent from the field and was 5-7 from beyond the arc.

Butler and Robinson had a combined 22 points on a perfect 7-7 shooting mark after 20 minutes of action. Louisville’s leading scorer at the break, Terrence Edwards, was tagged with his third foul right before halftime. Kentucky’s 16-2 advantage in fastbreak points was significant. It resulted in a 46-40 lead for the home team at the intermission.

To open the second half, Butler continued his perfect shooting, nailing back-to-back three-pointers to make it a double-digit lead and force another early Louisville timeout. Louisville continued to fight though, coming right back to make it just a two-point lead for the ‘Cats. Chucky Hepburn, who finished with 26 points on the night before fouling out late, was cooking. But at the under 12-minute media timeout, Edwards was tagged with his fourth foul while Kentucky was clinging to a 67-61 lead.

Foul troubles would only get worse for Louisville. James Scott fouled out midway through the second half, which allowed UK to once again take a double-digit lead. All of the momentum was with the ‘Cats, but landing the knockout punch proved difficult. Emotions nearly boiled over when Brandon Garrison and the Louisville bench got bunched up after a foul call on Garrison, but no technicals or flagrant were given out. Kentucky took a 79-72 lead into the final media timeout.

It was a bit of a whistle-fest down the stretch, but Kentucky remained in front. The final kill shot finally hit, too. Oweh’s three-pointer from the corner made it a 10-point advantage with about a minute to go. UK would hit enough free throws from there to walk away with the eight-point win. L’s were thrown down from the court all the way up the upper deck as Butler was named the game’s MVP.

Up next: Kentucky will take a week off before heading off to New York City. The Wildcats will take on Ohio State on Saturday. Dec. 21 at 5:30 p.m. EST on CBS.