No. 16 Louisville comes up short to No. 12 Kentucky, 75-73

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.

Regardless, with the recruiting allegations, possible obsene gestures and not talking to the press about losses in which his team actually played really well (they came back from 16 points down at one point during Saturday’s game), Pitino hasn’t exactly endeared himself to anyone from a public relations standpoint. We came back. We fought back. “Our two losses were in two hostile environments against two great teams and the game was in the balance most of the way both times”.

“It was a great team performance and really a good win”, Ulis said. “They know this is who we have to be and how we have to play, with that kind of energy, and that kind of looseness offensively”.

Alex Poythress added 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting, and had six rebounds and three blocks, with Dominique Hawkins hitting three of his four 3-point attempts for 13 points off the bench.

Kentucky’s second-leading scorer, Isaiah Briscoe, sat out after hurting his ankle during pregame warmups.

“I can’t tell anything from that video”, Klein said.

“He was outstanding”, said Louisville assistant coach Ralph Willard, who sat in for head coach Rick Pitino afterward. Pitino has skipped postgame news conferences on occasion this season.“I think guys did a great job of coming back competing in the second half, ” Willard said.

Kentucky season ticket holders we talked with say this is the one game of the year they make sure not to miss.

UofL men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino denies making an obscene gesture toward University of Kentucky fans as he walked to the locker room after his team’s loss Saturday. The spokesman said Pitino held up his index finger, sarcastically indicating, “We’re No. 1”. The 1-8 comment [Pitino’s record against John Calipari-coached Kentucky teams] was fine. He is 5-12 against Kentucky. It failed to draw iron, a gritty comeback by the visitors fell short and the No. 12/11 Wildcats (10-2) escaped with a 75-73 victory in front of 24,412 Big Blue fans in an exciting game that was as entertaining as you expect when these two bitter rivals get together.

Trey Lewis went 6 of 10 from the floor for 15 points for the Cardinals, who shot 42.9-percent from the field, while outrebounding Kentucky 39-29.