Mark Pope says Lamont Butler 'gave us one of the all-time greatest performances' in UK-UL series
Kerr Kriisa called Lamont Butler‘s performance against Louisville a “masterpiece” in a hilarious photo he sent out through social media postgame, which was, oddly enough, taken from inside a bathroom with Butler rocking socks and a full Nike NOCTA sweatsuit.
Mark Pope‘s postgame praise for Butler was a tad more appropriate…
“Unbelievable credit to him. My goodness what an incredible — Lamont Butler just gave us one of the all-time greatest performances in the history of his super special game,” Pope said of Butler, who was named MVP of Kentucky’s 93-85 win over Louisville on Saturday night. “All-time. The numbers back it up. The way he came into it backs it up… I’m so proud of him.”
That’s no hyperbole from the head coach, either. Butler played damn near a perfect game in his first and likely only taste of this rivalry. Had it not been for some free-throw line issues (7-12 from the stripe), he actually would have played a perfect game. Butler finished with a career-high 33 points while making all 10 of his field goal attempts, six of which came from beyond the arc. Louisville kept leaving him open, and he kept making them pay.
This was a guy who was still considered questionable leading up to the hours before tipoff. Butler had missed the previous two games for Kentucky due to an ankle injury he suffered against Clemson back on Dec. 3. He was limited in practice up until Friday. Pope refused to show his hand on Butler’s status in media opportunities throughout the week.
The 11-day break was enough to get himself right though. He played a season-high 32 minutes while adding six assists and three rebounds to his stat line. There was no other candidate for MVP in this one. Butler fully earned the bedazzled belt that came with the honor.
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“It was tough to be out,” Butler said postgame. “Every day, me and (trainer) Brandon Wells were just treating the ankle, trying to get it back to normal, trying to get it back to comfortable. Tonight, I was just out there playing. At that point, I said forget the ankle. My adrenaline was running. I just wanted to be out there trying to win. I just tried to make winning plays.”
Butler’s 33 points were the most scored by a Wildcat this season and just one point off the all-time mark in the Kentucky-Louisville series. Derrick Miller dropped 34 points on the Cardinals back in 1989. Butler’s 10-10 clip from the fiueld is the third-best perfect shooting night in school history. How about this one? He’s the only college player since 1996-97 to record at least 33 points and six assists while making all of his shot attempts.
His name will forever be etched into the history books of this storied rivalry because of the toughness he showed inside Rupp Arena. Whether you classify it as a masterpiece or an all-time performance doesn’t really matter in the end. Butler was just happy to come out with the win.
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