Louisville beat Kentucky 89-75 on Saturday. That represented the largest margin of victory for U of L in Rupp Arena since the in-state series was renewed in 1983-84.
The Cards took the lead for good with the first basket of the second half and expanded the margin to as much as 22 points.
Behind Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford, UK rallied to within10 twice in the final 90 seconds but got no closer.
Bradley finished with 27 points, 15 of which came in the final four minutes. Crawford added 19, nine of which came after Louisville established a 20-point lead.
UK needed its seniors. Louisville shut down and frustrated UK freshman Patrick Patterson. The Cats’ leading scorer made only three of 14 shots. U of L blocked four of his attempts.
UK fell to 6-7, its worst start to a season since 1989-90
Louisville, which like UK wanted a victory to catch the eye of post-season tournament selectors, improved to 10-4.
As the final minutes wound down, fans (presumably rooting for Louisville) chanted N-I-T, N-I-T in the direction of UK.
Jerry Smith and Juan Palacios led a balanced Louisville attack with 17 points each. Three other Cards reached double digits.
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
I just think it strange that even in the house of RUPP that the referees still call more fouls on UK than on the other team. Seems we are getting beat at the foul line. UofL beat us up with their bodies and Patterson was fouled on just about all his shouts. You know it is bad when Paker makes comments on national TV about the no calls.
Total lack of talent.