Down 20 points with under 12 minutes to play, No. 9 Kentucky men’s basketball refused to give up.
The Wildcats fought all the way back against No. 12 Louisville and put the game within two possessions, but the Battle of the Bluegrass ended in favor of red for the first time since 2020, as the Cardinals took down the Cats 96-88.
Kentucky men’s basketball traveled 77 miles west on I-64 to face Louisville in one of the most high-stakes Battle of the Bluegrass rivalry games in nearly a decade.
More than 22,000 fans filled the stands inside the KFC Yum! Center for the 33rd consecutive matchup (excluding the 2021 season, which was canceled because of the pandemic) between the Cardinals and Wildcats, with both teams ranked in the AP Top 12 for the first time since December 2016.
From the opening possession, Kentucky’s defense couldn’t stop a red-hot Louisville offense. The Cardinals hit three of their first four 3-pointers, including two from Ryan Conwell, to spark a 6-0 scoring run that gave the Cardinals a 10-5 lead three minutes into the game.
Even with the roars of the crowd keeping the momentum in Louisville’s favor, Kentucky quickly found its pace on offense, and two pick-and-rolls kept the Cats within a score.
Louisville entered a two-minute drought while the Wildcats found offensive momentum, hitting five straight shots in a 6-0 scoring run to take a 22-19 lead.
However, the lead wouldn’t last long, as the script flipped again. Conwell and Mikel Brown Jr. combined for nine unanswered points as Louisville broke into a 9-0 run.
During that stretch, Kentucky missed five consecutive field goals and went over three minutes without scoring, prompting a Mark Pope timeout with the Cards up 41-28.
Louisville kept rolling after the break, drilling its next three shots from the field to stretch the lead to 46-28 with 4:38 remaining.
Kentucky found another spark in the closing minutes. Denzel Aberdeen, Otega Oweh and Mo Dioubate fueled a 16-5 run highlighted by Aberdeen’s third 3-pointer of the half with 33 seconds left, shrinking the deficit to 51-46.
Brown Jr.’s driving layup at the buzzer sent the Cards into halftime leading 53-46.
Louisville shot 51.4% (19-37) from the field to Kentucky’s 48.6% (17-35), with both teams trading six made 3s and near-identical paint production, the Cards only outscoring the Cats 24-22.
Louisville carried its first-half rhythm straight out of the locker room, shooting efficiently from 3-point range in the first two minutes while Kentucky’s shots stopped falling.
What had been a back-and-forth first half had found itself entirely in favor of red. Through the first eight minutes, Louisville continued to hit nearly half its shots while holding Kentucky under 40% shooting.
What was once a not-so-intimidating five-point lead for Louisville to start the half quickly became 18. With 11 minutes remaining, the Cats had shot an underwhelming 20% from 3-point range.
A 6-0 scoring run put Kentucky back in the game, but a 3-pointer from the Cards pushed the score to 81-67.
Against all odds, Kentucky fought back. The Cats found a fighting chance in their biggest struggle all year — 3-pointers.
Kam Williams got it started with 10:26 left in the game before Collin Chandler found points from beyond the arc twice to shrink the lead to 11. Jaland Lowe followed suit, hitting a 3 of his own to send the score to 83-75 heading into a timeout.
With a 4-0 scoring run, the Cats put the game back within single digits. Chandler sank his third 3-pointer of the half, and the game was within four.
It was back and forth from there, Louisville having enough edge to keep the Wildcats within two possessions. The late rally proved too little too late for Kentucky, falling 96-88 to Louisville for the first time in three seasons.
Kentucky men’s basketball returns to Rupp Arena this Friday, Nov. 14, to face Eastern Illinois for the final game of the BBN United Tipoff Classic. The matchup will air live on ESPN with tipoff set for 7 p.m. ET.
