Louisville Basketball: Cards take down Wildcats at home

Louisville basketball won the biggest game of their season thus far, defeating their rival at the KFC Yum! Center.

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A game which saw 10+ ties and lead changes would come down to the final seconds, with Louisville coming out on top, 73-70, over Kentucky.

The Cardinals were led by guard Quentin Snider, who had the team’s first 20-point game of the season. Deng Adel chipped in 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while the Wildcats relied on De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, who finished with 21 and 16 respectively.

Kentucky endured their worst shooting performance of the season, finishing with a percentage of 39.7 from the floor, including 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from beyond the arc.

The teams battled back and forth for the entire first half, the largest lead being just a 7-point advantage for Louisville at the six minute mark. Kentucky then embarked on a 9-point run, only to have Louisville tie it up again. The teams headed into the locker rooms at halftime with Kentucky nursing a 40-39 lead.

The second half would continue in the same fashion, with both teams forcing turnovers and fighting for rebounds, all while relying heavily on their starting lineups to produce.

Louisville’s first five did just that, combining for 67 of their 73 points and 28 of their 40 total rebounds. Kentucky saw great games out of their starters as well, but ran into trouble with Monk missing his first seven 3-point attempts and Mychal Mulder, playing in place of Wenyen Gabriel, missing a crucial free throw in the final minute of the game.

On the very next possession, Louisville’s Jaylen Johnson was able to grab a missed layup and finish underneath the rim to put the Cardinals up six. His physicality down low was too much for Edrice ‘Bam’ Adebayo to handle alone, and the huge second chance bucket underscored Kentucky’s vulnerability at the power forward and center positions when Gabriel is not on the court.

Malik Monk’s first 3-pointer of the game kept the Wildcats’ hopes alive, making the score 71-70 with 10.4 seconds left. Adel would inbound to Donovan Mitchell, who would hit both free throws to put Louisville up three. The game would end after Monk’s ninth 3-point attempt barely hit the front of the rim, which sent the Louisville fans and players into a frenzy.

Kentucky will open up their SEC schedule at Ole Miss on the 29th. Louisville is back in action against ACC opponent Virginia at the end of the month.