No. 9 Kentucky men’s basketball dominated Louisville 95-76 inside the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday.
The win marked the best showing of the season for veteran Antonio Reeves, who scored 30 points in the contest.
The Wildcats entered the matchup on the back of a win over another ACC school, former No. 9 North Carolina, in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta.
Looking to make it two in a row over ACC competition, the Wildcats started the same lineup as it did against the Tar Heels, bringing out Justin Edwards, Reeves, D.J. Wagner, Aaron Bradshaw and Tre Mitchell.
Unfortunately for the plenty of visiting fans in attendance — with audible “Go Big Blue!” chants ringing out during the pregame festivities — the Cardinals started the contest hot.
While the Cardinals were able to keep things close early, the Wildcats quickly settled in and found a rhythm, something that would be reflected with a lopsided score after 12 minutes.
The Cardinals refused to give in, however, connecting from the field to get back within nine points after trailing by as many as 14, forcing Kentucky head coach John Calipari to call a timeout.
The effort was ultimately for not, however, as the Cats surged with a 14-2 run to end the half, taking a 20-point lead into the break thanks to the strong effort from Reeves.
Coming out of the break the Wildcats were able to get the lead as high as 26 points before a 6-0 scoring run by Louisville returned the score to the halftime deficit.
Louisville was even able to get within 20, trailing by 19, before the Cats were able to stop the scoring run.
The Cats could not be held forever, though, powering back ahead to lead by 25 with under six minutes left to play.
Try as they might, the Cardinals were never able to make it a game and fell in a lopsided final.
The Wildcats will return to action on Friday, Dec. 29, when they return home after a three-game road stint to face the former school of Reeves: Illinois State. Tip-off against the Redbirds is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will air live on the SEC Network.
