Louisville CardFile: Kentucky

Well . . . uh . . . um . . . ah . . . yeah . . . well . . . okay . . . there’s this.

Not only was this not the worst loss in U of L hoops history, at least from an actual point differential if not psychological decimation — Centre 61, Louisville 7 on 02/18/20 holds that record — it wasn’t the worst loss to the Wildcats in the series.

UK 76, U of L 46 on 12/18/99.

So Friday’s 29 point evisceration could have been, and has been, worse.

So the Cards got that goin’ for them. Which is, uh, not really so nice. But some benediction from the Lama, any kind, soothing words would be welcome.

Ya know, kids, there’s simply not much to say. The Cards were wopped up the side of their heads by arch rival Kentucky. 

Anas Mahmoud and Ray Spalding in foul trouble went to the bench about 3/4s of the way through the 1st. The game was tight at that juncture, and looked like it could go down to the wire.

Instead, U of L fell apart. UK settled in.

The rout was on.

Well, actually it really didn’t morph into a sure thing beatdown until early in the 2d. After all, as the historians among you might recall, Louisville was up 32-16 at halftime of the Patrick Sparks’ robbery in ’04, and Kentucky came back to steal it. So, theoretically the Cards, down 14 at intermission, could have pulled off a miracle Saturday.

But, when Louisville scored on its first three possessions of the 2d, they’d fallen behind an additional point. For the Cats had countered with a deuce, an open slam and a trey, their 6th, 7th and 8th straight made field goals.

From that point on, a relaxed Kentucky team pulled away not so slowly but oh so inexorably against the discombobulated Cardinals.

I have no intention of discussing specifics. Partially because I, ever the verbose one, am more than sort of at a loss for words. I haven’t read or listened to any post game comments. I haven’t looked at the box score.

It was a total meltdown. Offensively. Defensively. Starters, Reserves. Coaches.

No focus. No fire. No más.

Kentucky’s youth was hardly an impediment. The Wildcats scored pretty much at will for the final 25 minutes of the game. And weren’t forced into any peril defensively because U of L ran little discernible offense.

This was as devastating a U of L setback as I can recall.

My hope is that this team has the grit to dig deep, work on and eliminate flaws, and win enough in the ACC to go dancing come March.

That quest commences Tuesday against Pittsburgh.

— Seedy K

6 thoughts on “Louisville CardFile: Kentucky

  1. According to a tweet from Eric Crawford, UK made 30 field goals: seven dunks, 11 layups and 12 actual shots. How does that happen?

  2. “…if you can’t stay within 25 points of a Kentucky team that struggled in this same arena with Vermont and Virginia Tech, how can you reasonably be expected to win road games in the ACC?

    Answer: You can’t.” — Gary Parrish, CBS Sports

    He’s right. The MEAC-Meat Georgetown’s Hoyas feasted on in non-conf offered more resistance. #itsgonnabealongseason

  3. CK; You have to be in the Hall of Fame of writers (if there is one) for being able to write anything about that game.

    1. One of the most embarrassing performances i have ever witnessed by a cardinal squad…DP clearly in over his head. Our studs were wallflowers…Ray and McMoney all we got?
      Geeze..

      1. The team is deflated and, in my opinion, still grieving the loss of the coach/ season they were expecting. Not a huge surprise that they were unable to rally and/or fight back… Especially after it became clear that UK would be given a lopsided chance to win at the charity stripe.

Comments are closed.