Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s win over the Louisville Cardinals

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 95-76 victory over the Louisville Cardinals at the Yum Center on Thursday night.

1. Kentucky’s expected victory went as expected

No. 9-ranked Kentucky’s victory over Louisville wasn’t quite shooting fish in a barrel, but it was close.

Heavy underdogs, Louisville did manage to hang around early. The Cardinals actually led 15-14 with 11:30 left in the first half. After that, the roof caved in, however.

“I thought for the first 10 minutes, we did a really good job,” said U of L coach Kenny Payne, but he added, “They’re a really good team.”

A 17-3 run gave Kentucky a 31-19 lead with 8:21 left in the half. Later, the Wildcats went on a 14-2 spurt over the final 2:57 to take a 53-33 lead into halftime.

Antonio Reeves scored 22 points in the first half. The super-senior almost couldn’t miss. Reeves made 9 of 10 shots from the floor, including all four of his 3-point attempts. As a team, Kentucky was 8-for-15 from behind the arc over the first 20 minutes.

Reeves finished with 30 points, hitting 10 of 16 shots, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Kentucky shot 51.5% from the floor and 48% from 3-point land.

“Antonio was the difference at the end of the first half,” UK coach John Calipari said afterward.

2. It’s almost as if Kentucky fans feel sorry for Louisville

Yes, there was a heavy presence of Kentucky fans inside the KFC Yum Center. The “Go Big Blue” chants began before the game even started. That cheer resurfaced a few more times over the course of the evening — a “C-A-T-S, C-A-T-S” chant was added down the stretch with victory clearly in hand — but not as often as you’d might expect.

I’d venture to guess that Big Blue Nation received much more satisfaction from its football team’s 38-31 win at Louisville on Nov. 25 than the basketball victory on Thursday night. After all, the football Cardinals were 10-1. The UK win put a different spin on what had been a disappointing season.

Plus, there is the Kenny Payne factor. There is still much goodwill from UK fans for the job that Payne did as an assistant under John Calipari. He might be the one Louisville head coach that Kentucky fans hope would succeed. Just not against the Cats.

Ultimately, there is no reason why a program that boasts as much tradition and support as Louisville’s should be this bad. Payne is now 9-35 as a head coach. At U of L. His alma mater. The school that has won three national championships, even if the third one was vacated by the NCAA.

Payne was in desperate need of a good showing against his former boss. You could possibly make the case that Louisville made an OK showing against the nation’s ninth-ranked team, but it would be a stretch to say it was a “good” showing.

3. Kentucky still needs some polish

Despite winning by 19 and improving to 9-2, the Cats have plenty to work on before Illinois State comes to Rupp on Dec. 29 and SEC play begins with a trip to Florida on Jan. 6. If you want to nitpick, that is.

“The whole team is a work in progress,” Calipari said afterward. “We’re still trying to figure things out.”

Wait a minute, who are we kidding here?

The Cats were 12-for-25 from 3-point range. Reed Sheppard produced a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists. Tre Mitchell grabbed 12 rebounds. Justin Edwards scored 13 points with seven rebounds. Kentucky was credited with 19 assists, compared to 13 turnovers. UK blocked eight shots and made nine steals.

In fact, Calipari’s job over Christmas break might be to keep his young team from becoming complacent. I don’t see that happening. Not only does the Kentucky coach have a group that can “pass, dribble and shoot,” he has a group of competitors. It proved that in last Saturday’s win over North Carolina. The guess here is it will be hungry to improve.

Box score from No. 9 Kentucky basketball’s 95-76 win over Louisville

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