'I'm excited to get out there and play.' Kentucky players got a taste of the Louisville rivalry at TBT

The 2024-25 Kentucky Wildcats stopped at Freedom Hall on Monday night, likely thinking they would enjoy a regular basketball game between La Familia and The Ville. But when it’s Kentucky vs. Louisville, there’s never anything “regular” about the intense in-state rivalry. Nate Sestina being spit on by a former Cardinals player in the immediate aftermath is Example 1A.

None of these new Wildcats have any idea what it’s like to play in a highly-anticipated UK-UL matchup. They’ve experienced rivalry games before, but not to this level. Only Travis Perry and Trent Noah — a pair of in-state freshmen — truly understand what’s at stake, but they’ve still yet to experience it firsthand.

They’ll all know very soon though, and La Familia’s win over The Ville in The Basketball Tournament (along with the extra circular activities that followed) gave them a pretty good idea of what to expect. Yes, it’s only a basketball game, but to the people in the state of Kentucky, it’s clearly much more than that.

“It was crazy,” Jaxson Robinson told reporters on Tuesday about his experience at Freedom Hall. “Having all those fans there, seeing how much it means to the state of Kentucky. Louisville vs. Kentucky. It was a great game, it was fun to watch, and everybody was out of their seats the entire game. It was a great atmosphere and I’m excited to get out there and play in front of these Kentucky fans.

“Makes me excited to play any game, to be honest with you.“

Koby Brea is equally as excited to join the Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry. It’s part of the reason why he signed up to play for the Wildcats and new head coach Mark Pope in the first place. Seeing it in person only has him and the rest of his teammates eager for the start of the season.

“Just to be around that kind of environment and see how hectic and passionate our fans are in that rivalry — and we’re competitors, we want to be a part of that,” Brea said. “We know that any time we’re playing against competition like that, it’s gonna be a good game and that’s what we want to be a part of. I think me and the rest of the group are super pumped for that.”

This rivalry is nothing new to someone like Noah though, who grew up a die-hard Kentucky fan as a kid in Harlan County. The Wildcats’ feud with the Cardinals is something he’s all too familiar with. What went down on Monday night was intense, but he knows it’s only going to get crazier once the current teams meet this winter.

“I definitely think that they were in shock a little bit,” Noah said about his teammates’ reaction to La Familia’s win. “That’s just what Kentucky basketball is — and it’s on a smaller scale. I feel like whenever it gets to the season, it’s gonna be times 100. They’re super excited for it. It was super cool. It was a super cool experience last night.”

Noah and the rest of the Kentucky Wildcats don’t have to wait too much longer before participating in this rivalry themselves. UK hosts Louisville on Saturday, Dec. 14 inside Rupp Arena. Factoring in everything that happened in Freedom Hall, the 2024 edition of this rivalry will have some extra juice to it.

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Back when I was a kid, I looked up to the Harrison twins. It was pretty cool to be able to be on the court with them and talk a little bit of trash, play some defense. It was fun. – Jaxson – Trent