Big thanks as usual to Bigbluehistory.net for all of the great stats.
The last few years of the Kentucky/Louisville basketball rivalry have brought many highs and lows. It’s been a roller coaster for Cat fans, and at this point, they have their hands up enjoying the ride. Let’s take a look at the last 5 years of this rivalry, at both the bad and the good. To know where you are going, you have to know where you came from.
December 16, 2006 – Introduction to the University of Jodie Meeks
Kentucky 61 at Louisville 49
The hype going into this game was Randolph Morris and how big his impact would be. Picking up two fouls early with just over 15 minutes left in the first half, Morris was a non factor. He then picked up a third early in the second half and rode the bench for majority of the game. The Wildcats were looking for someone to step up, and at the time, an unlikely freshman named Jodie Meeks was up to the challenge. Pouring in 18 points, along with help from two seniors Sheray Thomas and Lukasz Obrzut in the rebounding column, this trio led the unranked Kentucky Wildcats to an unlikely victory over the Louisville Cardinals. This was Kentucky’s third win in a row over Louisville.
January 5, 2008 – Welcome to the rivalry Mr. Gillispie
Louisville 89 at Kentucky 75
This was the beginning of a couple of years that all Cat fans would rather forget. Despite a 31-30 lead at halftime, Louisville came out strong in the second half to go on a 32-9 run and put Kentucky out of contention for the win. This would be Derrick Jaspers last Kentucky/Louisville game of his Kentucky career before transferring to UNLV. Ramel Bradley was the leading scorer for the Cats with 27 points, Jerry Smith and Juan Palacios led for the Cardinals with 17. Do we even need to reminisce about the next year?
January 4, 2009 – Edgar Sosa put a dagger in the heart of the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky 71 at Louisville 74
The underdog Kentucky Wildcats took on the 18th ranked University of Louisville Cardinals for the last time ever in Freedom Hall. This was a game where most thought UK had no chance as this Louisville team was setup for a possible championship run this season, employing one of it’s most talented teams in history. With Michael Porter leading the helm for the Wildcats, Kentucky managed to stick around throughout, showing signs they had a shot at stealing one from the Cards. After making an improbable comeback from seven down in a matter of seconds, the game was tied and Louisville had one more possession. As Edgar Sosa brought the ball down the court, the Wildcats played tight man to man defense with 22.9 seconds left in the contest, the game tied at 71. As the clock wound down, Sosa finally launched a 26 footer, and it hit nothing but net with only 2.3 seconds remaining on the clock, thus ending one of the most memorable games in the history of this rivalry.
January 2, 2010 – Swopshire meets the forearm shiver
Louisville 62 at Kentucky 71
Kentucky came into this game with 5 first round NBA draft picks on the roster, the home court advantage and a two year losing streak to Louisville. Everyone knew Kentucky would win this game, it was just a matter of by how much? The game started out more heated than any other rivalry game in recent history. The refs had to stop play several times to warn players to calm down. Then came what we now call the forearm shiver by none other than Demarcus Cousins (Boogie). In a scramble for a loose ball, both Cousins and Jerrod Swopshire were on the floor going for the ball. When watched in slow motion (and a different angle than you saw on CBS that day), you can see Swopshire first knees Cousins in the face, and Boogie reacts with the forearm. I don’t warrant what Cousins did was right, but it is worth putting out there he was reacting to getting hit in the face. This created all kinds of chaos, and 3 different technical fouls given out. In the end, the Cats got the best of the Cards by holding on to get the win. Cousins led the way for the Cats with a beastly performance of 18 points and 18 rebounds.
December 31, 2010 – Breaking in the KFC Yum! Center
Kentucky 78 at Louisville 63
The storyline coming into this contest was the beautiful new chicken bucket and what many thought would be a good game between two ranked opponents. Kentucky 11th and Louisville 22nd, were ready to battle for the very first time in the KFC Yum! Center. Kentucky got off to the slow start but quickly recovered to take a decent 35-24 lead into halftime. The second half was more of the first, the Cardinals tried to storm back, but it just wasn’t enough to over come the Wildcats and the emergence of Josh Harrellson (Jorts) who was having his best game so far in his UK career totally 23 points and 14 rebounds. Cats won easy and felt right at home in the new arena.
There you have it, whew it has been a crazy five years in this rivalry! How would you like Saturday’s game against the Cards to playout?
Follow Courtney Deuser on Twitter @Wildcatty11 for more UK sports insight.
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