Postgame stats and notes from Kentucky’s win over Louisville

Kentucky got back in the win column after a disappointing loss at Missouri, defeating in-state rival Louisville by a final score of 86-63. It was a breakthrough performance for senior Jacob Toppin, who finished with a career-high 24 points to go with seven rebounds in the impressive all-around effort.

How did the victory come to fruition for the Wildcats? The postgame notes and stats tell some of the story. Take a look, courtesy of UK Athletics.

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ATTENDANCE: 20,934

Final Score: No. 19/17 Kentucky 86, Louisville 63

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is now 9-4 on the season. Louisville falls to 2-12. 
• Kentucky holds a 38-17 advantage in the all-time series, including 21-5 in Lexington.
• The Wildcats have won seven straight at home in the series.
• Next for UK: the Wildcats jump back into Southeastern Conference play, taking on LSU at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center.

Team Notes

• Kentucky opened with a starting lineup ofSahvir Wheeler, Cason Wallace, Chris Livingston, Jacob Toppin and Oscar Tshiebwe for the first time this year.
• Kentucky won the rebounding battle, 33-20, and held a 46-34 advantage in points in the paint.
• Kentucky’s 60.0% field goal percentage was its highest of the season. The Wildcats connected on 33 off 55 shots from the field
• The contest marked the third time this season UK had two players score at least 20 points as Toppin and Tshiebwe each poured in 24.
  • Antonio Reeves (22) and CJ Fredrick (20) accomplished the feat in the opener against Howard while Toppin and Reeves each scored 20 against North Florida.

Player Notes  

• Oscar Tshiebwe totaled 24 points and 14 rebounds, his SEC-best seventh double-double of the season.
  • Tshiebwe has 35 double-doubles in 45 career games for UK.
• Jacob Toppin provided an immediate spark in his first start in two weeks, going for a career-high 24 points while pulling down seven boards.
  • Toppin connected on a career-best 10 shots from the field.
• Cason Wallace had 17 points and five boards.
  • The game marked Wallace’s eighth double-figure scoring game of his freshman season.
• Sahvir Wheeler had seven points and nine assists, marking the ninth time this season and 80th time in his career he led the team in assists.

Coach John Calipari

• Calipari moved to 18-8 all-time against Louisville, including 13-3 while at the helm of the Wildcats. Kentucky is undefeated at home against the Cardinals under Calipari.
• Calipari has an 819-245 all-time on-court record and is 374-105 in 14 seasons at UK.
• UK is 307-59 (83.8%) against unranked competition under Calipari. 

In the First Half

• The Wildcats connected on five of their first six shots to open the contest on a 12-2 run over first 2:56.
• A Toppin jumper pushed the UK lead to 15 at 21-6 with 13:11 remaining in the half.
• Louisville trimmed the deficit to 30-22 with 6:14left to play but the Wildcats scored the next nine to extend the advantage to a game-high 17 at 39-22 with 3:01 remaining before taking a 45-30 lead into the break.
• The 45 first-half points are the most for a Calipari-coached team against Louisville.
• Toppin poured in 15 points in the opening stanza while Wallace added 10 and Tshiebwe recorded the double-double with 10 points and 10 boards before the intermission.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky opened the second stanza with the starting lineup.
• Louisville scored the first seven points of the second half to make it a 45-37 game less than two minutes in but Kentucky bounced back to score the next six to push its lead right back to 14 at 51-37 with 15:12 remaining.
• The Wildcats then pushed the lead to a game-high 27 at 84-57 on an Antonio Reeves free throw at the 2:45 mark before cruising to the win.