First Scouting Report: UK will aim to extend U of L’s misery in rivalry battle

A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:

The opponent

No. 14 Kentucky (8-2) will face intrastate rival Louisville (5-6) on Thursday, Dec. 21, at the KFC Yum Center (seating capacity of 22,090) in downtown Louisville:

The game will tip off at 6 p.m. and be telecast by ESPN.

In what was one of the best performances of the Kenny Payne coaching era to date, U of L routed Pepperdine 85-63 Sunday at the KFC Yum Center.

The victory moved the Cardinals one win ahead of last season’s victory (4-28) total.

Series history

Kentucky leads the all-time series with Louisville 38-17.

As UK head man, John Calipari is 12-3 vs. the Cardinals. Calipari is 7-0 vs. U of L at Rupp Arena, 3-3 against the Cardinals at the KFC Yum Center and is 2-0 vs. the Cards on neutral courts in NCAA Tournament games.

Kentucky and Louisville did not play in 2021-22 due to COVID-19 issues within the U of L program.

Louisville coach Kenny Payne is 0-1 vs. UK.

Most recent meeting

Oscar Tshiebwe had 24 points and 14 rebounds and Jacob Toppin contributed 24 points and seven boards as No. 19 Kentucky rolled to an 86-63 victory over Louisville on Dec. 31, 2022, at Rupp Arena.

Power rankings

In the Pomeroy Ratings, Kentucky is No. 22 and Louisville is No. 203.

The NCAA NET rankings have Kentucky No. 36, Louisville No. 291.

Know your foe

1. In what has, so far, been a second straight challenging season in the Kenny Payne coaching era (8-34 so far), Louisville has actually been competitive against high-profile teams from major conferences.

During last month’s Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden, the Cardinals lost to then-No. 19 Texas 81-80 when the Longhorns’ Max Abmas drained a jumper just ahead of the final buzzer.

The following night against Indiana, Louisville had a 64-61 lead with 4:23 left in the game only to see the Hoosiers score the contest’s next 13 points en route to a 74-66 win.

2. Through 10 games in 2023-24, Louisville has struggled to get the basketball to go through the rim. The Cardinals are shooting a pedestrian 41.1% on field-goal tries (245-for-596) and are a horrid 27% (50-for-185) on 3-point attempts.

At 73.8% (194-for-263), Louisville has shot free throws respectably.

3. Skyy Clark, the onetime Kentucky basketball commit, is Louisville’s leading scorer at 16.3 points a game. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound guard has not been an efficient scorer, however, as he is making only 40% (52-for-130) of his shots overall and 29.4% (15-for-51) of his 3-point attempts.

USC transfer Tre White, a 6-7, 205-pound sophomore wing, is averaging 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds. He, too, however, has struggled to make shots. The Dallas, Texas, product is shooting 37.6% overall (41-for-109) and 25.8% (8-for-31) on treys.

Former Bardstown High School standout JJ Traynor, a 6-8, 190-pound senior, is averaging 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds but has missed the past two games due to a shoulder injury.

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