Louisville Coach Rick Pitino Denies Making Obscene Gesture to Fans

On a day when Kentucky’s prized freshmen contributed sparingly, the Wildcats’ veterans led the team to a victory over its most hated rival.

When Louisville visits Kentucky in Rupp Arena on Saturday, it will mark the ninth time that Rick Pitino and John Calipari have matched wits as the coaching antagonists in our state’s signature basketball rivalry. The Cardinals also seek their first win at Rupp since 2008 and aim to end a three-game slide in a series Kentucky leads 33-15.

More importantly, the kids can play. It’s been a good few days for you with Christmas on Friday and a win against Louisville on Saturday. Kentucky then scored the first eight points of the second half to open a 16-point lead. To his credit, he did hit several key three-pointers in the second half that were big-time shots, but struggled to consistently hit shots throughout the game. “They do know this is who we have to be and how we have to play – that kind of energy, that kind of aggressiveness, that kind of attack. We’ve got to come in and fix all the little things we messed up on”.

UK’s first surprise came before the game. We just didnt execute down the stretch.”The Cardinals (11-2) had a chance to tie or take the lead with less than a minute left, but Trey Lewis was called for traveling. “That one shot won’t define the rest of the season”. I didnt realize I had that many points, ” Hawkins said. “(It) cleared their minds”.

Video emerged after Kentucky’s 75-73 victory over Louisville that purportedly shows Rick Pitino flipping off Kentucky fans. A school spokesman said Pitino was doing a radio interview at the time.

But any honest assessment of Pitino’s decision not to talk on Saturday must also take into consideration the fact that this wasn’t the first time this season that Pitino skipped a postgame session with the media.

Mitchell provided a spark during the second half comeback. Really, an 11-1 start with its only loss being to a good Michigan State team, while toppling an impressive Grand Canyon squad, is about the best it could have envisioned.

That’s because it appeared Pitino gave the middle-finger salute to booing Kentucky fans as he exited the court – although it is hard to tell for sure from the grainy footage.

Asked whether he gestured in any way toward the crowd, Pitino said, “My recollection was a, ‘we r #1′”. Just over 27 hours into the race, the 100-foot super maxi Comanche, skippered by Ken Read and which was forced to make repairs to a damaged rudder after an overnight storm, led Rambler 88 by seven nautical miles.

Battling Santas: Spotted in the stands, one Santa Claus in a blue suit and one in a red suit.