By Charlie Leffler
The final score read 82-62 but in some many ways Louisville came away winners. After having completely fallen apart against Oregon in their only other road game, both players and coaches did not know what to expect going into such a hostile environment as Rupp Arena. The 20-point margin was not indicative of the hustle that the Cards displayed throughout the game.
Surprisingly, even though the Wildcats were playing in their home arena they were the ones who appeared to come out tentative as Louisville jumped out to a 4-0 lead. But U of L paid the price for their aggressive defense. Sophomore Ellis Myles picked up a rebounding foul 19-seconds into the game while Reece Gaines got his first at the 18:20 mark, then his second 17-seconds later. As a result, Gaines only played 11-minutes in the first half.
Without their leading scorer on the floor the Cards hung with the Cats throughout the half. Carlos Hurt brought Louisville lead to 6-3 at the 15:55 mark. But out of a timeout the Cats appeared to have calmed down and set about the process of picking the Cards apart. When Tayshaun Prince dunked coming in from the backside he capped off a 12-3 Kentucky run and caused U of L head coach Rick Pitino to call a timeout. Out of the break Gaines drove the length of the floor for a layup, cutting the Cats’ lead to one.After another media timeout the two surged back and forth but UK used a 10-4 run to pull ahead 26-18 with 3:30 left in the half. Then it was Luke Whitehead’s turn to take over.
Whitehead was not expected to play after taking a terrible fall against Coppin State earlier in the month and injuring his shoulder, but he took the floor with confidence. Yet, his lack of practice time hurt him on the defensive end and he picked up several quick fouls. At the 3:07 mark, Whitehead cut the UK lead to six with a jump shot, but then picked up his third foul 20-seconds later. After two more baskets by Kentucky it was Whitehead again then Erik Brown to narrow the deficit to five.
Yet, once again UK had the answer. An inside basket by Gerald Fitch drew a foul from Larry O’Bannon and the three point play gave the Cats an eight point lead with 1:14 left in the half.
Yet, Brown came back with a field goal and a dunk in the final minute while Joseph N’Sima blocked a Cliff Hawkins attempt at the buzzer and the Kentucky lead was narrowed to four, 36-32 heading into the locker rooms.
Coming out after the break the Cards were hurt once again as Gaines picked up his third foul 17-seconds into the half. But then a three by Hurt cut the UK lead to one. It was then that Keith Bogans and Prince began to take control. Bogans and N’Sima traded baskets and the lead remained one with 18:45 in the game. But then UK went on a 16-2 run in which Prince scored eight points and Bogans seven and the shots seemed to be pouring in from everywhere as Louisville repeatedly got beat on defense. By the 8:38 mark the Cats were up by 19 and many thought the game was over.
“After I hit the three to bring us back, I looked up and we were down 10-again,” said Hurt. “That just goes to show how good Kentucky is at getting it done.”
“They definitely hit some shots down the stretch,” said Gaines. “Our team just lost focus on the defensive end.”
But Lousiville still had a chance. After Hurt drove the lane and got a layin to cut the lead to 17 the Cards made four straight trips to the foul line. In an effort that could have cut the UK lead to single digits U of L came away with only four points and it appeared that they lost some of their steam. Gaines quickly picked up his fourth foul at the 5:35 mark and Kentucky went on a 16-2 run to pull out to a 79-52 lead with 1:36 left in the game. Most of the Cards final baskets came against the end of Kentucky’s bench to cut the lead to the final margin.
“In the first half we didn’t take good shots, didn’t have a high number of assists but we were right in the game cause we rebounded pretty well,” said Pitino. “In the second half we took better shots and they just didn’t go down and Kentucky is a very experienced basketball team and took advantage of it. I told our guys, right now were playing four freshman, two or three sophomores and you come into an environment like this you can hang in there, hang in there, but you just have to learn from it.”
Though he often lost his man on defense, N’Sima once again played with power in the post. The senior forward finished the game with eight points, seven rebounds and five blocks. “Coming in I thought we could win,” said N’Siima, “but we came up short in many areas of the game.”
Gaines was held to a season low 10-points, five of which came after UK had cleared its bench. Hurt and Northern also finished with 10 each while Brown scored nine.
