National Basketball Association
Louisville 62, Kentucky 59
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 26, 2020
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials:
# Doug Shows, # Ron Groover, # Ted Valentine
Attendance:
3281
By Field Level Media
Dre Davis made a free throw with 18.9 seconds left to snap a tie and Carlik Jones hit two more Saturday as host Louisville extended Kentucky's losing streak to six games with a 62-59 win.
Davis' foul shot came after he claimed a loose ball and was fouled in backcourt by Isaiah Jackson. After Olivier Sarr's wing jumper rattled out, Jones grabbed the rebound, drew a foul and calmly swished his foul shots.
The Wildcats (1-6) could have forced overtime, but Brandon Boston's clean look at a 25-footer banged off the rim just before time expired. It sealed the worst start for a Kentucky team since 1911.
Jones scored a game-high 20 points for the Cardinals (6-1), while David Johnson stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Louisville overcame 42.3 percent field goal shooting and a 40-35 disadvantage on the boards.
Davion Mintz pumped in 19 points for the Wildcats, while Boston added 11 but made just 3 of 11 shots. Jacob Toppin scored 10 points, but it wasn't enough to prevent Kentucky from losing to its in-state rivals for just the third time in 14 games.
As one would expect from bitter rivals, it was a hard-fought game. Most shots were contested and rebounds required a man's effort to pull them in. The lead changed hands consistently during the first half.
Louisville managed an 8-5 lead at the first television timeout, but Kentucky responded and took a 13-11 advantage nearly eight minutes into the game on a jumper by Toppin. Jones' driving layup at the 7:12 mark pushed the Cardinals ahead again at 21-19.
Mintz stroked a 3-pointer with 1:16 left to give the Wildcats a 27-26 edge, but Jae'Tyn Withers gave Louisville a one-point margin at halftime when he converted Johnson's pass into a layup with two seconds left. The difference in the half was that the Cardinals scored more than half their 28 points on 3-pointers, going 5 of 14.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Kentucky |
|
Louisville |
|
Davion Mintz 19 |
Scoring |
Carlik Jones 20 |
|
Devin Askew 3 |
Assists |
David Johnson 4 |
|
Brandon Boston Jr. 7 |
Rebounds |
Jae'lyn Withers 9 |
|
Brandon Boston Jr. 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Carlik Jones 5 |
|
Devin Askew 2 |
Steals |
Dre Davis 2 |
|
Isaiah Jackson 3 |
Blocks |
JJ Traynor 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Kentucky
|
59 |
34.5 |
5-17 |
14-22 |
6 |
35 |
5 |
7 |
11 |
| Louisville
|
62 |
42.3 |
6-20 |
12-15 |
9 |
34 |
2 |
5 |
13 |
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