Everything John Calipari said after Kentucky basketball rolled to a win at Louisville

In one of the oddest editions of the Kentucky-Louisville men’s basketball series, the Wildcats emerged victorious.

Kentucky now leads the all-time series with Louisville 39-17 after a comfortable 95-76 win over U of L on Thursday night inside a KFC Yum Center in Louisville that featured nearly a 50-50 split of Cats and Cards fans.

UK led 53-33 at halftime and was powered by the scoring prowess of fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves, who finished with 30 points. Reeves had 22 points and went 9-for-10 from the field in the first half alone.

Freshman guard Reed Sheppard set a Kentucky-Louisville rivalry game record with 11 assists, and he secured his first college double-double by pairing that with 11 points.

Thursday’s win also included a breakthrough of sorts for freshman Justin Edwards, who overcame a slow start to record 13 points and seven rebounds.

A 15-1 run midway through the first half proved key to Kentucky easing its way to a second straight dominant win over its in-state rival. The 95 points scored by Kentucky were the most points ever scored by a Louisville opponent in the KFC Yum Center.

And the Wildcats managed all this on the same day that UK earned a commitment from a fifth highly-touted recruit in the 2024 recruiting class.

The No. 9-ranked Wildcats are 9-2 overall on the season and have one final tuneup against Illinois State on Dec. 29 before SEC play begins in January.

Following the comprehensive rivalry win over Louisville, UK head coach John Calipari (who has now won 13 of 16 games against U of L while at Kentucky) met with media members to discuss Reeves’ big game, Edwards’ breakthrough outing and more.

Here’s everything Calipari said:

Question about having two players in Reed Sheppard and D.J. Wagner with parents that played at a high level, how to coach them to handle the spotlight.

I haven’t coached them, that’s who they are. The whole team is a work in progress, we’re still trying to figure stuff out. We got new guys coming in and trying to play different. I thought Adou (Thiero) was unbelievable today. Just played great. I thought Antonio (Reeves) in the first half is why there was separation in the last three minutes.

Folks, you have to understand we lost the second half by a point, which tells you his team, Kenny (Payne’s) team never stopped. They just kept playing. You know, when we have another big guy, Tre (Mitchell) can be who he is. He doesn’t have to be slugging around down there because he did it for us for a number of games.

Question about relationship with Kenny Payne and encouragement for him.

They lost to Texas by a point. I watched all these games now. They easily could have won. They had Virginia Tech on the road, they had a chance to win. (Against) Indiana, could have easily won the game. You lose a couple games and say, ‘Oh we should have won those.’ Well, we lost one we should have won, too.

That’s all part of this. He’s got a really young team, and you got to let them go do what he does. The players love him because they play for him. They never let go of the rope. I’m watching and I feel for him but shoot, we went through it a couple years ago. The people get mean and nasty. They do, and that’s what you have to deal with in this profession. Anytime I text him, ‘Coach your team.’ That’s what I send him. Just coach your team. All the other stuff doesn’t matter.

My guess is he’ll have this program within a year where everybody wants it. It’s just the growing pains are miserable. We went through it. Now all of a sudden, if you don’t shoot 30 3s it’s ‘What’s going on? The game’s passed you by.’

What? I feel for him, he’s going to be fine. I’ll tell you that when they love you that much and how they’re responding to him, it’s just a matter of time. Again, I’ve watched the games. I know they lost a couple bad ones. We did, too.

Question about how much the other scoring threats around Antonio Reeves frees him up.

What I keep saying to guys: You don’t have to make the hardest play, whoever you throw it to can play basketball. They can dribble, pass and shoot, so quit trying to make really hard plays. We’re getting turnovers for no reason, which we haven’t all year. We’ll have to work on that when we come back.

But, you know, I wanted Jordan (Burks) to get in. He’s been so good in practice. But with the big guy coming back, he kind of got pushed out a little bit, and I wanted to get him some minutes. Ugonna (Onyenso) did OK, but I’m on him because you got to rebound. You can’t be 7 foot and not be near a ball, because why am I playing you then? He’ll get better.

Question about a breakthrough performance for Justin Edwards.

Well, he came out and missed a wide open 3, then he bank missed one. Then I ran a play for him to get another shot and he made it and I looked at him and said, ‘That’s how much I believe in you.’ I think I believe in you more than you believe in you. It’s not your offense. Go rebound, go tip dunk, go at the rim, and-ones.

He’s a great free-throw shooter, so what would you try to do? Try to get fouled, maybe ball fake, do anything to get fouled. He’s a great free-throw shooter.

But here’s the point: He’s a freshman trying to figure it out. The guys are doing everything they can to help him, and today was a breakthrough for him and I was happy for him. He’s a terrific player. He’s just young. D.J. (Wagner) did some things today. He’s I think three-time Freshman of the Week in our league. But you know what, I keep telling him the greatest thing with this group: You don’t have to play great for us to win.

We got enough guys. If you have a bad game, just step back and let other guys play more, which tells you there’s no pressure. ‘I got to do well.’ No, that’s for you, that’s selfish. Just go play loose and play. The plays you have for you and our team, not stuff you want to do.

How are we playing? Everybody’s getting shots. I think we got seven guys in double figures. Scoring a lot, making a high percentage of 3s, low turnovers, and we’re the youngest team in the country. Fifth-youngest.

Question about Justin Edwards getting a technical foul and showing outward emotion.

I thought he said something to the official. That’s why I got on the official. When he said he did it to the player, I said, ‘That’s the same as doing that (motioning) to the player.’ You can’t do it. Just play basketball. But look, I was just so happy for him because he needed to break through.

You just think about him blocking shots, rebounding, open-court scoring. He should be a better defender. He should be our best defender, but he’s never been asked to do that before, so this is all new to him.

Question about D.J. Wagner and Reed Sheppard through the first two months of the season.

I think they’ve been terrific. I think they both have a will to win. I think they both have some dog in them. I know DJ does. I mean, the game he didn’t play, we lost. That tells you something. He wills you to win. His dad was the same way, and I imagine his grandfather was the same way. It’s in his DNA.

Reed, just whatever you ask him to do, he just plays basketball. He doesn’t care who scores, what it is, if I have to get a basket I will. He made a 3 and made two or three free throws. I mean those were big. Tre (Mitchell’s) two 3s were big to keep the gap. Like I said, I’ve watched the tape. These guys, they’re doing good stuff, and I would just say stay with it. Let him do what he does. Players love him. You know, Kenny, he’s like my brother.

Question about Zvonimir Ivisic returning home to Europe for the holidays.

He is. (His situation) hasn’t changed. But all that he’s been through, he’s lost, he was 242 (pounds), he went down to 219. Not sleeping. Struggling to eat.

You know what I’m saying? For his sake, I said I’m good with it. I mean, his parents are also... This is... You know. So, he’s going to go home and be back before the Illinois State game. Hopefully, we hear something.

So, here’s the crazy thing. NIL. You do know juniors are making hundreds of thousands in high school. One just signed for a million. High school.

Seniors are making hundreds of thousands. In high school... States are different, stop it. That’s why we’re in this position. And that’s why the Supreme Court and every court says. ‘No, you can’t do it that way.’

I’m hoping that they look at this and, it took us a while to get (Ivisic) admitted. Somebody told me he put out his GPA.

I’ll even give you another one, Ugonna had a 4.0. We’ve got a great group of kids, they do what they’re supposed to do.

For (Ivisic), the best thing for him. Not for me, I’d rather him be with me. Stay with me. He needs to get home. He needs to be around his family. But he’s done good stuff.

Kenny Payne saw firsthand what this Kentucky team is capable of. ‘They’re a machine.’

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