KSR GAMEDAY: Cats vs. Cards in the KFC Yum! Center

The battle for the Commonwealth is here, as No. 9 Kentucky travels down I-64 to Louisville to take on the Cardinals inside the KFC Yum! Center. No, this matchup doesn’t have the juice of a, say, 2011 or 2014, top-five matchups between Coach Cal and Rick Pitino, but there is still plenty to get fired up about. It doesn’t hurt the Cats are coming off a resume-boosting top-ten win over North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic — the perfect entree ahead of a pre-Christmas rivalry dessert.

So what do you need to know ahead of the matchup? Kentucky sits as a 14.5-point favorite, with the point total set at 156.5. Louisville, ranked No. 267 in the NET, is an ugly 5-6 on the year with losses to Chattanooga, Texas, Indiana, Virginia Tech, DePaul and Arkansas State. The Cards’ leading scorer is former Cat signee Skyy Clark, averaging 15.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest. As a team, they’re averaging just 63.9 points per game (No. 331) while allowing 75.8 points (No. 315), shooting 42.1% overall (No. 297) and 32.9% from three (No. 245).

Yeah, it’s rough. And it’s led to a blistering-hot seat for Kenny Payne in his second year as head coach. He may be coaching for his job on Thursday.

“I know on the outside looking in, it looks like we don’t have a chance. Well, we’ve got a chance,” Payne said. “We’re going to go out and fight to get that and prove people wrong. Let’s see what happens. If we believe, it doesn’t matter what anybody else does.”

We sure will see what happens.

Ugonna Onyenso says his happiness at Christmas is dependent on a win

Looking for a letdown from the Cats? Don’t expect one. Ugonna Onyenso refuses to go into the holiday season with a lump of coal in the form of a loss to UofL.

“It means a lot to me, the little rivalry thing. Kentucky has to win,” the sophomore shot-blocker said. “We still have to practice and prepare, because it’s a very big game. That’s not the game you can walk in feeling relaxed. We’ve got pressure on us.”

No, seriously. He’ll be pissed if the Cats lose. His Christmas will be ruined if that nightmare scenario unfolds.

“We really have to make this work,” Onyenso said. “We want to have a good Christmas. If we win this game, we’re going home happy. I’m sure there are other teams looking forward to that too.”

Reed Sheppard looks to avoid an upset

As for Reed Sheppard, he knows what’s at stake here. He’s lived in the state his entire life. This rivalry means something to him.

Once that ball is tipped, records and odds are thrown out the window.

“Louisville has a chance to beat us, they’re a good team,” Sheppard said. “They went down to the wire with Texas. We’ve got to come out and play hard, we’ve got to fight. It’s our first true road game. The crowd will be rocking, everyone will be excited for us to play against each other.

“I think it’s our first time playing at the Yum! Center in three years or something like that, so it’ll be a good crowd, good atmosphere. So we’ve got to come out and fight.”

Big Z speaks

As the Cats prepare for the Cards, Zvonimir Ivisic is just hoping to earn his freedom with the NCAA. The 7-2 forward released a statement amid speculation he may pack up and head home permanently if he’s not cleared in the near future.

“I met with Coach Cal and discussed going home for the holidays,” Ivisic said. “My family and I worked really hard to gain admission to Kentucky, which took quite a while. With the ups and downs of this process, it’s been stressful and emotional for me and my family, but I can tell all of BBN that I’ve done everything I can.

“I’ve obtained a 3.25 GPA. I love this school. I love my teammates and going against other great players every day in practice. I love being coached and challenged and I’m hoping to hear that I can play soon. Go BBN!!”

Cats ink 27 on National Signing Day

That poor fax machine is probably still cooling off inside the football offices, as Kentucky hauled in 27 new additions to open NSD ’24 — 21 high school signees and six out of the transfer portal. The early period technically lasts through Dec. 22, so there is still time to pull off another surprise or two, but the current group is undoubtedly a good one.

“Really excited to talk about this class. As you know, this is a great deal of work that goes into this for sometimes, weeks, months (or) years for some of these guys,” Stoops said. “It’s the culmination of quite a bit of work. We’ve put together a very good class. Very balanced. I feel like there’s very good balance within the high school and the portal.”

The headliners were Brock Vandagriff, Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Chip Trayanum out of the portal, then Cutter Boley, Brian Robinson, Jacob Smith and Jerod Smith out of high school, among others.

Take a look at the complete group:

Mark Stoops, Vince Marrow break down the class

11 Personnel’s Signing Day Special

You won’t find a better breakdown of NSD ’24 than on the KSR YouTube page with 11 Personnel. Nick Roush and Adam Luckett have you covered with all of the nuts and bolts.

Go Cats. Beat the Cards.