No. 12 Kentucky upends Louisville 75-73

Rick Pitino declaring afterwards that he may have to change his philosophy on communicating with officials. “He defended, he’ll fight like insane, he’s got a great temperament, a great demeanor”, Calipari said.

WDRB.com columnist Rick Bozich wrote that Calipari topped Pitino again, both on the scoreboard and in “Miss Manners’ competition”.

Kentucky has won seven of its last eight games against Louisville. In my 50 years of writing about big-time college basketball and football, he is the most entertaining, thoughtful and quotable coach I have ever been around in any sport. Calipari understood that. Pitino understood that he wanted to get out of Lexington as quickly as possible. That game will be broadcast on the SEC Network. That evened out the technical he earlier called on Calipari.

Louisville outrebounded the Wildcats by 10. Lee’s senior sidekick, Trey Lewis, balled as if moments like this are what brought him to Louisville. Take out the two probation years (4-8), he was 45-19 (70.3). Lee would connect on eight of 20 shots, including two 3-pointers, and nine of 10 free throw attempts for game honors with 27 points. Pitino had a solid game plan and his players executed most of it.

Kentucky is 10-2 on the season. Murray scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, but he turned the ball over seven times.

What many Kentucky or Louisville basketball fans would like for Christmas is to have a win in Saturday’s UK-Louisville game in Rupp Arena in the annual Battle of the Bluegrass.

Poythress played his tail off on both ends of the court, throwing down hammering dunks on one end and sending UofL shots into the bleachers on the other end. He said Pitino’s team played terrific. Let’s look at the numbers and compare Louisville to Kentucky on paper.

“We know that they’re a great pressing team and I’m pretty sure that’s what we’re going to prepare for”, the Richmond, Kentucky, native said of the Cardinals. “They’re well-coached. Those guards are really, really good”. Labissiere will continue to underwhelm, and Chinanu Onuaku will flirt with a double-double. “For us, it is finishing and executing later on down the stretch, because in ACC play, we are going to go up against some hostile teams”. But I’m with almost everyone else in believing that Pitino was classless and cowardly by not facing up to questions about the game. The Wildcats made a season-high 11 3s.NO PITINOPitino didnt meet with reporters after the game, with assistant Ralph Willard taking his place. The squandering of superior talent is not without precedent at any level of the game, particularly in college, where rosters must be built and rebuilt rapidly and chemistry must be conjured nearly daily.

At 63 years old, Pitino is a Hall of Fame coach still learning how to lose gracefully.

Praise your players for their grit and determination.

In 2009, Calipari inherited a Kentucky program mired in relative mediocrity, having suffered double-digit losses four seasons in a row.

Say a few words about why this rivalry is special.

Now, since this video has hit the internet, there’s been some speculation as to whether or not this was actually Coach Pitino flipping off the fan. Louisville doesn’t usually fare well in this match up but I like the way the Cardinals are playing…