LIVE BLOG: Kentucky vs. Louisville
The first Kentucky vs. Louisville game of the Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey eras is here. KSR’s LIVE BLOG will bring you all the sights and sounds from Rupp Arena as the No. 5 Cats host the Louisville Cardinals (5:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Kentucky is 9-1, off to its best start since the 2017-18 season. Louisville is 6-4 and down to just eight scholarship players due to injury. The Cards snapped a three-game losing streak on Wednesday with a three-point win over UTEP. The Cats are coming off back-to-back wins over Gonzaga and Colgate. Today’s game marks the first time in the series that both teams are squaring off with new coaches. Kentucky holds a 39-17 advantage vs. the Cards all time, 13-3 in the last 16 meetings. The Cats are a double-digit favorite but may be without starting point guard Lamont Butler, who continues to recover from an ankle injury (Update: Butler is playing).
Refresh the feed below for updates and our takes on the game, from both Rupp Arena and the couch. You can also join the conversation on the KSBoard Game Thread or by texting your observations to 859-587-3828 (standard messaging rates apply).
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FINAL: Kentucky 93, Louisville 85
12/14/2024 06:40:56 PMLots to unpack with this one, but first and foremost, what a game for Lamont Butler. Butler finished with a career-high 33 points on 10-10 from the floor, 7-12 from the free-throw line. He was questionable coming into this game, but clearly wasn’t going to miss his first shot at the Cards.
Score Update: 15.6 2H – Kentucky 92, Louisville 85
12/14/2024 06:37:10 PMChucky Hepburn just fouled out. Kentucky is headed back to the free throw line as Louisville enters desperation mode.
Otega Oweh is clutch
12/14/2024 06:32:32 PMOweh has taken over this game, driving to the basket, getting a bucket, and drawing a foul. His free throw pushed this back to a ten-point game with 43 seconds left. Oweh has eight points in a minute and fifteen seconds.
Score Update: 52.9 2H – Kentucky 86, Louisville 79
12/14/2024 06:29:23 PMKentucky and Louisville are trading big buckets right now. Oweh just hit a three and Noah Waterman responded with one of his own to make it 86-79 with 52.9 seconds to go…
Otega Oweh’s third monster dunk may be his most important
12/14/2024 06:28:05 PMLouisville had cut the lead to five but another MONSTER dunk by Otega Oweh pushed it to seven with 1:58 to go.
KSR LIVE BLOG Text Machine is a little concerned
12/14/2024 06:27:07 PMText your observations to 859-587-3828 (standard messaging rates apply).
Score Update: 3:45 2H – Kentucky 79, Louisville 72
12/14/2024 06:19:45 PMAt the final media timeout, Kentucky leads by seven. It looked like the refs were going to call another foul on the Cats on a bucket by Noah Waterman but quickly changed it to a travel before the shot. Phew.
FIGHT!
12/14/2024 06:12:59 PMOh boy. We’ve got a fight. Brandon Garrison and Louisville’s Reyne Smith were going after a loose ball, which led to a shoving match next to Louisville’s bench. Both Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey jumped in to break it up. Refs called a foul on Garrison and are now reviewing to see if they need to call more.
UPDATE: Pat Adams says he won’t call any more fouls. LOL
Lamont Butler is up to 30 points
12/14/2024 06:10:35 PMLamont Butler just hit his SIXTH three of the game to push Kentucky’s lead back to eight. He’s a perfect 10-10 from the floor. Brandon Garrison just hit two free throws to make it 79-69 with six minutes to go.
Score Update: 7:37 2H – Kentucky 74, Louisville 64
12/14/2024 06:04:36 PMKentucky’s lead is ten with 7:37 to go. It feels like the Cats are taking control of this one as the Cards get winded. Hopefully, Chucky Hepburn doesn’t make me regret writing that.
Meanwhile, Jay Bilas got his ice cream.
Pat Kelsey is very upset
12/14/2024 06:02:26 PMPat Kelsey is not happy with how things are going right now at Rupp.
Score Update: 10:44 2H – Kentucky 71, Louisville 61
12/14/2024 05:57:30 PMKentucky’s on a 7-0 run and may be pulling away from the Cards, now up 10 with 10:44 to go. Just a few minutes ago, this was a three-point game.
Here’s a Blue Coat winning a dance-off by doing the Ls Down to keep the good vibes going.
Louisville’s James Scott fouls out
12/14/2024 05:56:02 PMAfter a review to figure out which Louisville player committed a foul on Andrew Carr, James Scott is outta there. Scott picked up his fifth foul of the game and will head to the bench for the remainder of the game.
Score Update: 12:00 2H – Kentucky 67, Louisville 61
12/14/2024 05:50:40 PMWe’ve got quite a game on our hands, folks. Lamont Butler is up to 26 points, a career-high, and Chucky Hepburn 20. Kentucky leads 67-61 with 12 minutes to go. Terrence Edwards just picked up his fourth foul. He’s the only other Cardinal in double figures (13 points).
If Kentucky seals this one up, Butler has left his imprint on the rivalry. What a game for him.
Tonight’s Y: Antoine Walker
12/14/2024 05:48:06 PMI hope all of Rupp did a shimmy.
Score Update: 14:20 2H – Kentucky 60, Louisville 56
12/14/2024 05:47:09 PMLouisville cut Kentucky’s lead to three but Chucky Hepburn fouled Lamont Butler, leading to one of two makes from the charity stripe. Kentucky is 10-16 on free throws tonight.
Spotted at Rupp: Vince Marrow
12/14/2024 05:43:00 PMDespite speculation he may take a job at North Carolina on Bill Belichick’s staff, Vince Marrow is at Rupp Arena tonight, sitting with Joe Craft. I wonder what they’re talking about?
Score Update: 15:40 2H – Kentucky 59, Louisville 49
12/14/2024 05:40:19 PMAt the first media timeout of the second timeout, Kentucky leads by 10, 59-49. Lamont Butler is up to 23 points, tying a career-high. He has 11 points in this half alone, more than Louisville’s entire team (9).
Lamont Butler hit three 3-pointers in 3 minutes
12/14/2024 05:36:38 PMLamont Butler is not going to let Kentucky lose this game. Butler has hit THREE three-pointers since halftime, taking his total today to five. A Brandon Garrison dunk pushes Kentucky’s lead to 57-45 with 16:35 to go.
Khani Rooths gives Kentucky fans the middle finger on the way into the tunnel
12/14/2024 05:19:28 PMYou know the rivalry is back when a Louisville player pulls a Pitino on the way to the locker room (meaning he flipped UK fans off, not…other things).
HALF: Kentucky 46, Louisville 40
12/14/2024 05:13:52 PMAfter 20 minutes of play, Louisville’s still hanging around. Kentucky leads the Cards 46-40 after a Lamont Butler layup. He has 12 points so far, leading the Cats. Jaxson Robinson is also in double figures with 10 points.
The Cats are shooting 70% from the floor and 71% from three. Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards are keeping the Cards in it, combing for 25 of their 40 points. As mentioned earlier, Edwards has three fouls.
Score Update: 1:48 1H – Kentucky 44, Louisville 37
12/14/2024 05:11:23 PMTerrence Edwards just picked up his third foul, leading to two makes from Jaxson Robinson at the charity stripe. Edwards leads all scorers so far with 13 points, so this could definitely hurt the Cards, who are already shorthanded.
Malachi Moreno throws Ls Down at midcourt
12/14/2024 05:04:09 PMThe future Cat was introduced during the media timeout and threw his Ls Down, like any good Kentucky kid would.
Score Update: 3:43 1H – Kentucky 39, Louisville 31
12/14/2024 05:01:16 PMThings were starting to get a bit uncomfortable, but Jaxson Robinson just hit a DEEP three to push Kentucky’s lead back to eight, 39-31, with 3:43 to go in the half. The shot came right after Terrence Edwards missed a layup that could have cut the lead to three.
Kentucky is 5-6 (83%) from three so far and 14-20 (70%) from the floor.
Rupp crowd makes its feelings about Pat Adams known
12/14/2024 04:57:19 PMWe’ve had at least three very quesitonable calls so far from Pat Adams, and after the last one, a foul on Jaxson Robinson, the Rupp ARena crowd broke out into the classic “REF, YOU SUCK!” chant.
The leads is still six, 36-30, with 4:47 to go.
Score Update: 6:17 1H – Kentucky 34, Louisville 28
12/14/2024 04:58:28 PMLouisville cut what was once a 12-point lead to four, but it’s back up to six thanks to Lamont Butler, who just hit two free throws. Butler is headed back to the bench, with Travis Perry checking in.
In other news, some of these calls are…questionable.
The Mark Pope-Pat Kelsey handshake picture is all we’d hoped
12/14/2024 04:49:02 PMAs a short person, I shouldn’t laugh at this, but I am. Mark Pope is a giant.
Score Update: 9:43 1H – Kentucky 30, Louisville 22
12/14/2024 04:44:35 PMGood news: Kentucky leads by 8. Bad news: the Cats are only 2-6 from the charity stripe. Free throws continue to alude this very good shooting squad. The Cats have missed more free throws (2-6) than field-goal attempts (12-15).
Koby Brea made sure he didn’t miss this bucket:
Otega Oweh throws down another monster dunk!
12/14/2024 04:38:05 PMOne monster dunk just wasn’t enough. Otega Oweh threw down another one to push Kentucky’s lead to 12, 28-16, with 11:05 until halftime. The Cats have made their last six field goals.
Score Update: 12:46 1H – Kentucky 22, Louisville 14
12/14/2024 04:35:42 PMButler is getting a breather. Travis Perry just checked in, sending Butler to the bench with six points. Koby Brea also hit his first three of the game. Kentucky is a perfect 4-4 from the outside so far.
Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr extend Kentucky’s lead to 10
12/14/2024 04:33:50 PMI think Lamont Butler’s feeling good. He just hit his seocnd three pointer, which Andrew Carr followed up with a dunk to extend Kentucky’s lead to ten, 19-9 with 14:00 to go in the first half.
Score Update: 15:36 1H – Kentucky 14, Louisville 9
12/14/2024 04:28:35 PMLouisville has pulled within five thanks to back-to-back buckets by J’vonne Hadley and Terrence Edwards Jr. Meanwhile, Kentucky is no longer perfect from the floor, with misses by Otega Oweh and Amari Williams.
I missed this when it happened, but Jaxson Robinson’s response to Oweh’s big dunk at the start was great.
Score Update: 16:59 1H – Kentucky 14, Louisville 5
12/14/2024 04:26:00 PMA Lamont Butler three just extended Kentucky’s lead to 14-5 and made Pat Kelsey call a timeout. Kentucky is a perfect 5-5 from the floor, with all five starters scoring so far.
Otega Oweh’s dunk highlights early action
12/14/2024 04:23:59 PMOtega Oweh just had his first rivalry moment, throwing a dunk down on Louisville’s Noah Waterman. A Jaxson Robinson three just put Kentucky up 11-5 with 17:10 to go.
Rupp looks glorious
12/14/2024 04:12:11 PMI’m jealous of every single one of you there. Let’s do this.
Malachi Moreno is at the game
12/14/2024 04:09:59 PMWith Ls Down, of course.
This fan is feeling it
12/14/2024 04:09:29 PMI love his hat.
FYI, Barion Brown to LSU
12/14/2024 04:08:26 PMMore football news keeps breaking. The latest is that Barion Brown is taking his talents to Baton Rouge.
Back to the normal starting five
12/14/2024 04:05:57 PMWith Butler back in the lineup, we’re back to our normal starting five.
00 Otega Oweh
01 Lamont Butler
02 Jaxson Robinson
07 Andrew Carr
22 Amari Williams
Louisville’s starting five:
01 J’Vonne Hadley
06 Reyne Smith
24 Chucky Hepburn
0 James Scott
93 Noah Waterman
Marlana VanHoose sang the national anthem
12/14/2024 04:02:19 PMYou know it’s a big game when Marlana’s in the house.
More from Pope on Butler
12/14/2024 03:57:19 PMHow big is having Butler back? Just listen to these comments from Pope about how important the senior point guard is to the squad.
“I mean, we’ve talked about so much, but he just wants to win, right? And when you come to this game just wanting to win, you bring a pureness to the game that the game rewards you for actually. When you worry about making shots or you worry about getting points or you worry about minutes, the game doesn’t really reward you for that. When you worry about winning, it does. And he’s been that way his whole career. He’s got better and better and better every single year, and we’re getting to see some of the some of the beauty that right now is a veteran player.”
Butler will be going up against Louisville’s best player, Chucky Hepburn.
“Chucky, he’s got unbelievable instincts,” Pope said of the Cards’ point guard. “We certainly haven’t faced player like him so far the season, that breaks as many rules as he does, but he breaks them and they work. He’ll get fully out of rotation. He’ll over commit to the ball at random spots. He’s very much like a rover on defense, and he kind of picks and chooses his spots, and really effective at it. Like I said, he’s got a lot of instincts on the defensive end. He’s got great feet, quick hands, a ton of energy, plays hard for long stretches, and he’s a terrific player.”
Pope confirms that Lamont Butler WILL play
12/14/2024 03:47:49 PMDuring his pregame conversation with Tom Leach, Mark Pope confirmed that Butler will play today.
“Lamont, we’re just going to throw him out there and see how it goes. He had a half practice yesterday, and came back — most importantly, after those he came back this morning and he felt pretty good. So, he’s gonna give it a go, and we’ll see how it goes in live play.”
Pitino will be watching
12/14/2024 03:25:23 PMRick Pitino tweeted about the game earlier. On the official UK pregame show, Dave Baker and Cameron Mills said that UK considered bringing a “very special guest” to the game tonight but ultimately decided against it. Was it Pitino? St. John’s is off this weekend. If so, that would have been absolutely nuts.
More footage of Butler warming up
12/14/2024 03:19:30 PMThat doesn’t look like someone just getting up shots.
Pat Adams in the house
12/14/2024 03:13:17 PMToday’s officials: Pat Adams, Jeb Hartness, and Lee Cassell. This is the third straight Kentucky vs. Louisville game Adams has officiated. Cassell was also on last year’s crew and called a technical on Justin Edwards for taunting.
Peyton Siva is chirping with fans
12/14/2024 03:11:40 PMPeyton Siva is very familiar with the Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry, going 1-4 against the Cats as a player. Now an assistant on Pat Kelsey’s staff, Siva couldn’t help but go back and forth with fans at Rupp Arena during warm-ups.
Lamont Butler is warming up
12/14/2024 03:07:55 PMIn case you missed the post below this one, Lamont Butler is warming up. In fact, he was the first Wildcat to come out for warm-ups, earning a nice cheer from the fans already in the arena. We’ll get official work on his status from Mark Pope about 30 minutes before tipoff, but this is a very good sign.
According to Jack Pilgrim, Butler was a full participant in today’s shootaround. Even if he plays limited minutes, it’ll be great to have him back, and I’m sure he’s champing at the bit to play in a huge rivalry game.
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