When: December 26th 11 AM CT
Where: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Teams: #16 Lousiville Cardinals @ #12 Kentucky Wildcats
On the day after Christmas, college basketball sadly only has one marquee game. Luckily for college basketball fans, the game features the Rick Pitino coached-#16 Lousville Cardinals and the John Calipari coached-#12 Kentucky Wildcats in the annual Battle of The Biuegrass played by these two elite basketball programs each year. Kentucky leads the all time series 33-15 and has won seven of the last eight matchups, two of which came in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville is looking to avenge last year's home loss to Kentucky, 58-50.
The Louisville Cardinals were unranked in the preseason due to a scandal surrounding controversy about former players potentially getting illegal, and rather innapropriate, benefits. It was also due to the fact that none of their returning players averaged more than four points per game the previous season. However, this team has played outstandingly and has proven it is still a force to be reckoned with while also one of the five best teams in the ACC. Though they have played a weaker schedule for the most part, there are important things to keep in mind. First off, Louisville has the NCAA best scoring margin at 30.2 PPG more than their opponents. Also, when they traveled to East Lansing to play the #1 Michigan State Spartans, they played great press defense against the Spartans and almost beat them, only losing by four. They are 11th in Division I basketball in PPG (86.1), tied for 12th in rebounding (43.1 PPG), and 2nd in points allowed at 55.9 ppg. This team is ready to compete in this game, and in ACC play.
The Kentucky Wildcats, however, are off to a somewhat rough start, and have a lot more to prove than Louisville going into this game. The preseason number #2 may have defeated Duke early on in the season, but they have also lost to two teams that combine for nine losses right now, including a struggling Ohio State team on a neutral court. The team has an offense that needs to find its rhythm. They are only 90th in PPG and below the top 150 in assists. The team is not playing with little energy necessarily, but they do lack rhythm at the moment. However, this is a team with six All-Americans on the roster, and a coach that will work hard to get the best out of them. One huge key is getting top recruit and star freshman Skal Labissiere to play well. The freshman has disappointed, averaging less than 10 points a game and has not been the inside presence Kentucky expected. If he can get it going and the offense can become more fluid, Kentucky is in a great position to win this game and return to being the Kentucky of old.
Prediction: Right now one could argue Louisville is the much safer pick. Their top players are performing quite well, whether it be sharpshooters Damion Lee (17.4 PPG, 1st on team) or Trey Lewis (14. 7 PPG) or players such as Quentin Snider (4.4 APG) or big man Chinanu Onuaku (9.5 PPG 7.5 RPG), Lousivlle has developed a solid core of players that seem more prepared than Kentucky. However, Kentucky will finally show their stripes and find a way to win this game.
Jamal Murray can match Damion Lee with his outstanding scoring of his own, scoring 17.1 PPG for the Wildcats, and the Wildcats have a floor general in G Tyler Ulis, who averages a team leading 5.3 APG. Additionally, Kentucky has both Marcus Lee and Alex Poythress who average over seven RPG. However, Labisierre will break out this game and can be the double double threat he was expected to be. Louisville very well could win this game, and they are still a really good team. Yet, Labissiere will be the difference in a break out game for the freshman.