John Clay: Saturday showed that with its two new coaches, Kentucky-Louisville is in a good space

John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader on Dec 15, 2024

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — My take from Kentucky basketball’s 93-85 win against Louisville on Saturday: The rivalry is in good hands.

These two coaches get it. Kentucky’s Mark Pope gets it. Louisville’s Pat Kelsey gets it. Doesn’t matter that they’re first-year coaches at their respective schools. Doesn’t matter that as a former Wildcat, Pope had an inside view of the rivalry while Kelsey came to the Cardinals from the outside. Doesn’t matter that Pope has his first Kentucky team 10-1 while injury-riddled Louisville is now 6-5.

Both these programs are in good hands. New chapter, new beginning. Look at the team Pope has assembled from scratch. The way it fits together. They way it plays for each other. The way it competes. Look at the way Louisville hung around and hung around Saturday despite using just seven players — five of whom played 30 or more minutes — and despite UK’s Lamont Butler making every shot from the floor.

“I didn’t even know that until after the game,” said the point guard who had missed the previous two games with an ankle injury.

Butler made all 10 of his shots from the field. Six of those were 3-pointers. He did miss five of his 12 free throws, but that’s picking nits. Kentucky shot 69.6% the first half and 58.2% for the game. Having struggled from beyond the arc the past five games, the Cats found their stroke against the Cards, hitting 11 of 21 attempts from downtown for 52.4%. Butler had much to do with that.

Yet, Louisville kept battling. The Cards trailed by just six at the half. They cut Kentucky’s lead to three points (59-56) with 14:35 left. They were within five points (79-74) with 3:17 remaining. They were undermanned but resilient.

“Those guys are playing so hard right now and doing it shorthanded,” Pope said of the Cards. “Pat is doing an unbelievable job coaching that group.”

Let’s be honest, the light had dimmed on this UK-U of L basketball rivalry. Much to my surprise, I admit, Kenny Payne was a disaster in his two-year run as Louisville’s coach. His predecessor, Chris Mack, slipped into a snarky back-and-forth with John Calipari before his short tenure as U of L’s coach came to an abrupt end. And we all know Rick Pitino and Calipari have not regularly exchanged Christmas cards.

Pope and Kelsey probably won’t either. But I’ll be surprised if their relationship slips into animosity. They appear to have a healthy respect for one another and the job the other coach is doing. Kelsey was great in his postgame press conference, lavishing praise on Kentucky while also saying how proud he was of his team’s fight. Pope responded, in kind.

Kelsey has a proven record. He’s made four NCAA Tournament appearances during his time at Winthrop and Charleston. Had he not lost Kasean Pryor (ACL surgery) and Koren Johnson (shoulder surgery) for the season, he might have these Cardinals in the field of 68, as well.

On other side, Pope keeps knocking it out of the park. And BBN has responded in kind. Rupp Arena was not just packed Saturday, it was juiced. As usual, Marlana VanHoose sang the national anthem like only Marlana VanHoose can sing the national anthem. Santa Claus was there in blue. The Grinch dropped from the ceiling in red. It was loud. There was everything you want in a Kentucky-Louisville rivalry game.

The guess is there will be more to come. The future is bright. Cheer up Louisville. The Cards are going to beat some teams they have no business beating this season. If you go by the preseason rankings, Kentucky has already done so. Down went Duke. Down went Gonzaga.

“I think you have two organizations right now that have an insane amount of passion about winning and feel all the joy and intensity and stress of this rivalry,” Pope said. “But also are pretty good about being focused on what actually makes you play the best to give yourself the best chance to win. I think both programs are probably in that space somewhere.”

That’s a good space to be.

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