LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Shrieking ensued Wednesday after Louisville men's basketball coach Kenny Payne said Kentucky coach John Calipari wants to beat him down but that he would be happy to win the rivalry game by one silly point.
I'll take it up a notch — the margin of victory, not the shrieking.
If Louisville wins by 0.0000000001 points, there should be joy to the world on 2nd and Main streets.
Has anybody been paying attention to the rivalry over the last 15 years? Send me all the video clips from all the Louisville beatdowns of the Wildcats.
Since Calipari took charge of the UK basketball program for the 2010 season, the Wildcats and Cardinals have played 15 games.
The Cards have won three.
Their largest margin of victory has been three points. I don't care if the Cards' coach was Rick Pitino, David Padgett, Chris Mack or Slats Grobnik.
If Louisville wins by a point, the Cards should paint the 2nd Street Bridge red and white.
Nobody is predicting that. Calipari is favored by at least four times three to upgrade his record to 13-3 against the Cardinals.
Here is a nuts and bolts look at the game:
Time: Thursday, 6 p.m., KFC Yum! Center.
How to Watch/Listen: TV — ESPN, Wes Durham, play by play; Jimmy Dykes, analyst; Radio — UK, 840 WHAS, Tom Leach, play by play; Jack Givens, analyst; U of L 93.9 FM and 970 AM, Paul Rogers, play by play; Bob Valvano, analyst.
The Line: Point spread, UK by 13; Over/Under (total points) 158 (at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday DraftKings).
The Last Time: Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin each scored 24 points as the Wildcats surged to an 11-point lead in the first 10 minutes and defeated the Cardinals, 86-63, in Rupp Arena.
The Series: The Wildcats have a 38-17 edge, winning half of their six visits to the KFC Yum! Center.
The Records: Kentucky is 8-2, with victories over North Carolina and Miami as well as losses to Kansas and North Carolina-Wilmington: Louisville is 5-6. The Cards' best win was by 22 points over Pepperdine Sunday. That win followed troubling losses to DePaul and Arkansas State.
Style Points for Kentucky: The Wildcats rank fifth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (40.4) and second in turnover percentage (12.5% of all possessions).
Style Points for Louisville: The Cardinals rank 25th nationally in percentage of free throws shot per field goal attempt — 42.1%.
Warning Signs for Kentucky: UK ranks 232nd in offensive rebounding, grabbing 27.7% of their missed shots.
Warning signs for Louisville: Payne's team ranks 306th in three-point field goal percentage, making 29.4% of their shots from distance.
Player to Watch Kentucky: D.J. Wagner was named Southeastern Conference freshman of the week after he had 14 points, five assists and six rebounds in a victory over North Carolina. Wagner is the grandson of Cards' legend Milt Wagner, Louisville's director of player development and alumni relations. The Cards tried to recruit Wagner and his high school teammate Aaron Bradshaw, but both signed with Calipari.
Player to Watch Louisville: Forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has scored 20 points with at least 11 rebounds in the Cards' last two games. He's averaged 13.4 points and 9.6 rebounds in Louisville's last five games.
Sideline Storylines:
- Louisville point guard Skyy Clark committed to Kentucky as a high school junior but later decommitted and played part of a season for Illinois before transferring to Louisville last summer
- Five U of L starters (everybody but Mike James) is shooting less than 28% from distance, including Clark, who has made 15 of 55 (.273), and Tre White, who is eight for 31 (.258)
- Kentucky has five players who have made at least 10 three-pointers this season — and three (Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard and Antonio Reeves) have made better than 42% of their attempts
- U of L freshman point guard Ty-Laur Johnson has averaged 4.1 assists in the last seven games.
The Kentucky Quote from Reed Sheppard:
"I think it'll be a really, really fun game. It'll be a really cool atmosphere, you know, to play at Louisville and as a freshman is really, really cool, especially growing up in Kentucky, knowing how big the rivalry is."
The Louisville Quote From Skyy Clark:
"We know that we can compete with anybody. We proved that in New York. So even though we've had some pretty disappointing losses, it doesn't change how we can play and what we can do on the court."
The Pick: Kentucky 86, Louisville 71.
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