Louisville men’s basketball gets streamrolled by rival No. 9 Kentucky, 95-76

By Derek DeBurger

The biggest joke in college basketball—Louisville—just got a whole lot funnier. Louisville got the hopes of fans up just to drop a dud against rival No. 9 Kentucky.

Going into Thursday’s matchup, the chatter was about how Kentucky might invade the KFC Yum! Center and beat the Cards so badly that it would look like a game in Rupp Arena. Instead, Louisville jumped out to a 5-0 lead, displaying aggression on defense.

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield continued his stretch of dominance, scoring at will in the first half, and grabbing rebounds. Huntley-Hatfield had 12 points and six rebounds in the first half, finishing the game 8-8 shooting from the field with his third consecutive double-double.

Brandon Huntley Hatfield in Louisville’s game Thursday.

Kentucky would eventually get the lid off the basket, but Louisville kept right up with them by attacking the paint and drawing fouls. Once Louisville took the lead 17-16, the wheels fell off. Adou Theiro was left wide open for a three and started what would be a 15-1 run by the Cats. During the run, head coach Kenny Payne waited until the lead grew to 12 to call a timeout to slow down the momentum that the Cats had, but by that time it was too late. Kentucky even went on a different 14-2 run to end the first half.

Pushing the lead as high as 26, Kentucky went on to win 95-76. The Cards gave up the most points to a visiting team at the Yum! Center since they started calling it home in 2010.

In the post-game press conference, Payne said that next year’s Louisville team will be better because he’ll bring in transfers to start over his current players.

The players are not the problem.

St. Joseph’s — who took Kentucky to overtime — and UNC Wilmington — who beat Kentucky in Lexington — both have a less talented roster than the Cards.

The first eight minutes of the game were competitive in huge part due to Huntley-Hatfield taking over on offense. Huntley-Hatfield disappeared in the second half, not because he played poorly but because there was no intentional effort to get him touches. That’s poor coaching, which we may have seen the last of. However, to the chagrin of many Cards fans, only athletic director Josh Heird can make that decision.