By Benjamin Lampkin
Everyone knows about the mythological status the University of Kentucky-University of Louisville basketball rivalry holds. Life and death, blood vs. blood, the fate of a state resting on the ability of 20-year olds to set a screen and box out on the offensive glass. With that in mind, the Cardinals spent a glorious Saturday afternoon wetting the appetites of U of L fans, and shattering the ill-fated dreams of UK fans, by defeating the Wildcats 81-63 in front of 20,061 fans in decibel-starved Freedom Hall.
With one of the most balanced scoring attacks all season, the Cards (7-1) shot a blistering 53.6% in the second half to overcome a 33-30 halftime deficit and eventually rout UK (6-3), earning redemption from the 82-62 loss suffered last season at Rupp Arena.
“I think our inexperience showed in the first 10 minutes of play with our shot selection,” said U of L head coach Rick Pitino. “It wasn’t because of selfishness, it was more because it was such a big game. We came out in the second half and shot the ball well.”
“We did a good job on the boards and were aggressive in the first half,” said UK head coach Tubby Smith. “I am disappointed with our effort in the second half.”
While it wasn’t necessarily a tale of two halves, the numbers certainly reflect the effort, enthusiasm, and energy the two teams displayed in both sessions. The Cards were out-rebounded by 10 in the first half; they held a +9 advantage in the second half. The Cards shot 37.5% to UK’s 39.4% in the first half; U of L destroyed the Cats 53.6% to 34.5% in the final half.Even looking at individual stats, it’s not hard to tell which team was the aggressor in each half. Erik Daniels finished the opening half with 9 points and six rebounds; he finished the game with 9 points and seven rebounds. For the Cards, Ellis Myles started the game with two points and two rebounds; he finished with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
“When a team catches fire like that and gets the momentum, like Pitino’s teams can do, it’s tough to stop,” said Smith. “They were able to get on the boards and get two and three chances.”Holding a 20-9 lead early on, it looked to be a repeat of long-forgotten UK-UL games of old. The Cats took advantage of long missed rebounds to convert six fast break points, and got backdoor dunks on two possessions. But U of L was able to get to within five at 26-21, then within four at 28-24 after a three from Bryant Northern.
Northern buried another three on the following possession, and Taquan Dean hit one to make it three consecutive threes, and cut the UK lead at halftime to only 33-30.
“We wanted to win so badly that we pulled the trigger quickly, which is something we haven’t done and it got us behind,” said Pitino. “We came in at halftime and said look, we gotta go out and play the second half like our real basketball team.”
The real basketball team started the second like a team determined to give their fans a late Christmas present. The Cards opened the half with a 10-2 run, with the Cards pulling ahead 40-35 at the under-16 timeout. That run stretched even further, as U of L pushed the tempo probably a little too fast for the Cats to play at for an extended period of time, according to coach Smith.
“I thought they did a good job of pressing and speeding up the game,” said Smith in the post-game press conference. “I thought they did a good job in making us play faster and take quick shots. Our perimeter players did not (shoot the ball well), and I thought that was the difference in the game.”While shooting was one of the major factors for UK’s somewhat surprising loss (they shot only 37% for the game, including a miserable 16.7% from three-point land), it was the hustle points that the Cards stole away from the Cats in the second half. UK dominated the boards 24-14 in the opening 20 minutes, but they were relegated to just 12 boards, in comparison to UL’s 21, in the final 20 minutes.
“We took some bad shots and weren’t in position to rebound the ball in the second half,” said Smith. “I think Ellis (Myles) came along and really energized them.”
Myles’ 14 rebounds were a game-high, and his 11 points were part of a balanced U of L scoring attack. Seven players had at least 9 points, and five hit double-figures. Marvin Stone, playing against his former teammates for the first time since his departure, had a game-high 16 points, as well as seven boards and two blocks.
“Marvin is such a good passer,” said Pitino. “The reason I am so high on him is because he is such a good passer.”
Now the Cardinals hold the state’s most important bragging rights for at least one more year, and have a tremendous out-of-conference win to place under their belts and celebrate for the time being.
“We want to be a top 25 program,” said Pitino. “I normally don’t really care until the end (of the season), but I think our guys deserve it. This is a big win for us.”
Next up for U of L is a tough road game at Ohio State on Saturday, January 4, at 2 p.m., followed by the beginning of Conference USA play with a road game at Charlotte on January 8 at 7:30 p.m.
