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The ‘Cats returned to Rupp Arena on New Year’s Eve for their annual (although first matchup since 2020) rivalry game against the Louisville Cardinals. The ‘Cats were fresh off their fourth loss of the season (first conference game) after falling to Missouri on the road earlier this week, 89-75. The same issues still persist for the ‘Cats as far as their offensive scheme and execution following the Missouri loss. They lean heavily on the likes of Wheeler to facilitate the offense while consistently running out three bigs and just two guards in almost every rotational lineup. Big Blue Nation has been calling for a consistent implementation of a three-guard lineup for years now, as the game seems to have passed Coach Calipari and the ‘Cats offensive scheme up. Playing a lineup consisting of three big men while the opponent rolls out three guards leaves the teams defense vulnerable in addition to leaving the offensive opportunities limited in a half court set with few transition run-out opportunities. Even the casual ‘Cat fan knows a change must come with the ‘Cats offensive philosophy, but it is yet to be seen if Calipari is willing to make a change. Kentucky basketball is losing national respect, and fast. The ‘Cats will have to lock-in and win some important SEC games to regain that Kentucky basketball lore. From a tournament resume perspective, the ‘Cats aren’t working with much to this point in the season. As of December 31, the ‘Cats have fallen to No. 44 nationally in the NET rankings, posting an 0-3 record in Quad I games and a 1-1 record in Quad II matchups. A win over Louisville at home likely won’t do much to improve the early season postseason outlook, as the Cardinals clocked in ranked No. 345 out of 363 Division I teams.
As for Lousivlle, the Kenny Payne experiment has left a lot to be desired. The Cardinals have started their 2022-23 campaign with a 2-11 record with their only wins coming versus Western Kentucky (94-83) and a mutual ‘Cats opponent in Florida A&M (61-55). The Cardinals offense is one of the worst in the country, posting just 61.4 PPG while shooting just 40.1% from the field and 31.9% from three-point range, on average. The Cardinals leading scorer for the season is their starting point guard, El Ellis, who average 17.1 PPG as a volume shooter (14.5 FGA per game). The other primary Louisville contributor is Tennessee transfer and former ‘Cats recruit Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who posts 8.1 PPG and 6.3 RPG on the season. Tshiebwe leads the ‘Cats in both scoring and rebounds on the year, averaging 15.8 PPG and 13.6 RPG. Wallace has been the ‘Cats best offensive scorer in the last two games, averaging 23 PPG and 5 APG in those contests. Thiero got a longer run in the ‘Cats last game against Missouri, logging a season-high 17-minutes and posting 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in the game while also leading the ‘Cat in plus/minus in the 14-point loss with +3. In the game against Missouri, guard CJ Frederick injured his finger and will be out for a couple weeks, according to reports.
The starting lineup for the ‘Cats featured Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Toppin, and Tshiebwe.
Game Recap:
The scoring started with a Livingston corner three thanks to some swift ball movement around the perimeter from the ‘Cats. After a Louisville layup, Wallace responded with another three for the ‘Cats. Back-to-back buckets by Toppin and a putback by Tshiebwe pushed the ‘Cats lead to 12-2 to start the game, forcing a Louisville timeout. Another driving layup by Toppin and an and-one opportunity for Wallace pushed the lead to 16-4 at the first media timeout. Toppin broke the zone with a mid-range jumper for his 9th point of the game to give the ‘Cats a 21-6 lead. A strong Tshiebwe take to the basket left the score at 23-12 with 11:22 to play in the half. Two Toppin free-throws gave the ‘Cats a 25-12 lead. A couple of scores by Wallace, including a driving layup that fell thanks to a little English off the glass, extended the Kentucky lead to 30-18 at the under 8-minute media timeout. A couple of Louisville layups narrowed the ‘Cats lead down to 8, 30-22 with 6-minutes to play. Tshiebwe follows his own free-throw miss with a putback layup, then Wheeler collected a steal and the ‘Cats converted a Toppin jumper to re-extend the lead back to 12 at 34-22. Toppin then hit a short floater that gave the ‘Cats a 36-22 lead at the under 4-minute media timeout. Wheeler nailed a three-pointer to extend the Kentucky lead, but the Cardinals responded with a converted and-one opportunity. The two teams traded baskets again, while Louisville added in a steal and three-pointer to narrow the lead back to 11, 41-30. A Tshiebwe putback and Collins slam finished the scoring for the half and brought the Kentucky lead to 45-30 at halftime. The ‘Cats shot 63% from the field in the half and 38% from three-point range. Toppin led the way for the ‘Cats in scoring with 15 first half points, also adding in 4 rebounds. Tshiebwe ended the first half with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Wallace also added 10 points for the ‘Cats in the half.
The second half scoring started hot for the Cardinals as they hit a layup that was followed by a three-pointer to quickly bring the score to 45-35. Louisville started the half on a 7-0 run before Tshiebwe ended that run with a free-throw to bring the score to 46-37. Back-to-back buckets by Toppin and Wallace pushed the lead back to 14 with a score of 51-37 ‘Cats. Toppin continued to use the middle of the zone to his advantage with another mid-range jumper, pushing his points total to 19 in the game and giving the ‘Cats a 53-39 lead. A trio of ‘Cats free-throws pushed the lead to 17, 56-39 with 13-minutes to play. The referees made their presence felt mid-way through the second half, calling consecutive fouls on Ware for the ‘Cats plus a delay of game warning, with all three being questionable decisions. The score sat at 58-43 Kentucky with 11:59 to play. Another display of swift ball movement opened up Tshiebwe for a wide-open dunk. With Toppin matching up with a much smaller guard, the ‘Cats found him in the paint and he slammed home another bucket for the ‘Cats, giving the ‘Cats their largest lead of the game at 63-44 with 10:07 left in the game. A Wallace corner three off a Wheeler assist pushed the ‘Cats in front by 20, 68-48. Following a quartette of free-throws by the ‘Cats, Kentucky went on an 8-0 run to push the lead to 26 at 80-54 with 4:09 to play. The run featured Toppin flying in for a putback dunk and the ‘Cats finding a wide-open Tshiebwe for another open dunk. Following a Louisville bucket, Wheeler flew down the court to find Tshiebwe for an alley-oop dunk. Louisville ended the game-scoring with a driving layup and the ‘Cats left the rivalry game with an 86-63 win over the Cardinals.
Louisville finished the game shooting 47% from the field (15% from three-point range). The ‘Cats shot a fiery 60% from the court and 31% from beyond the arc. The ‘Cats dominated the boards, outrebounding the Cardinals 33-20 in the game. Tshiebwe and Toppin led the way for the ‘Cats in scoring with 24 points apiece (career high from Toppin). Tsheibwe also led the ‘Cats in rebounds, per usual, with 14 boards. Toppin added in 7 rebounds for the ‘Cats. Wheeler facilitated the ball well for the ‘Cats in a more efficient offense, collecting 9 assists in the game to go along with 7 points. Wallace led the ‘Cats in plus/minus totals for the game with a +26 in 37-minutes. Overall, the ‘Cats displayed a much better offensive flow in the game. The offense wasn’t forcing the ball down low to Tshiebwe and clogging the lane, in part thanks to improved entry passes when the ball did go to the post. The ‘Cats also noticeably took more of what the defense gave them, most notably with Toppin (mid-range jumpers/floaters). The ‘Cats are now sitting at 9-4 on the season, with their biggest and most important games of the season yet to come as the bulk of the SEC schedule is set to begin. The opportunities will be there for the ‘Cats, they just need to win the games, easier said than done.
The ’Cats return to Rupp Arena to take on the LSU Tigers (12-1) for the first game of 2023 on Tuesday, January 3 at 8:00 p.m. The game will televised on ESPN.
