By Brett Jager

This Sunday’s matchup of the University of Louisville and Western Kentucky University men’s basketball teams in Nashville will see many Card fans trekking down Interstate 65 to enjoy a game at the end of the Thanksgiving holiday.
“I’m really excited to go to the WKU game,” said Ben Henry, a junior bioengineering major.
“My granddad played for Western and so did a friend I played with in high school. It will be exciting to see him play in a game I am going to. I’m really looking forward to it and it should be a good time.”
Other fans won’t be so lucky to attend, as they will be taking the extra time to be around friends and family, though their anticipation is still high.
“The main reason I came to this school was for the basketball team,” said Nick Bennett, a junior communication major. “Normally I would be going to this game in a heartbeat, but I will be spending that day at home with my family.”
The matchup will be the first between the two teams since 2003, a meeting that was plagued with controversy due to scheduling.
“At the time that game did not fit with our plans,” said Kenny Klein, associate athletic director for U of L. Klein added that U of L wanted to exercise a $25,000 buyout clause in their contract with WKU in order to not play the game, but ultimately, agreed to play the game in Nashville, Tenn.
The game was played on December 4, 2003, with U of L winning 93-63. This season U of L will play the first game of a four game series against WKU. The second game will be in Louisville, the third in Bowling Green, Ky., and the final game back in Louisville.
And this Sunday, the two squads meet again, but with hopes to focus more on the actual game rather than issues with scheduling.
“Early this summer, we were building our schedule for this season and were planning to play a very competitive schedule,” Klein said.
The Cards are going into the game on a high having just won the Billy Minardi Classic with victories over Morehead State and South Alabama.
Both games saw heavy production from freshman center Samardo Samuels. In the Morehead State contest, Samuels dropped 18 points, leading four players in double figures as the Cards cruised 79-41.
Against South Alabama, Samuels was equally strong, putting up 24 points to lead the Cards to an 81-54 victory over the Jaguars.
Though Samuels led the way, the Cards put together a balanced attack, with Terrence Williams and Earl Clark adding twelve points apiece.
“You can’t just focus on one person,” guard Andre McGee said.
“In looking at one of the options to play a good team in this region, Western Kentucky was a good fit in that they were coming off an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and a discussion with their athletics staff resulted in a four-game series,” Klein said.
WKU enters the game returning from their Sweet 16 appearance in the 2008 NCAA tournament, but have since lost former head coach Darin Horn, who accepted the head coaching job at the University of South Carolina.
WKU’s top player from last season, Courtney Lee, is also gone as he was selected in the first round of the NBA draft by the Orlando Magic.
Many U of L fans will make the trek down Interstate 65 to see the Cards play against the Hilltoppers.
U of L hopes to get off to a strong start to the season and earn some in-state bragging rights against the Hilltoppers this weekend.