SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 2010
#20 Louisville Cardinals (10-3) v #3 Kentucky Wildcats (9-0)
The No. 20 Louisville Cardinals will make a short trip to Lexington to bring in the New Year with a cross-state war against the No.3 Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena on Saturday.
The Cardinals knocked off the Wildcats 74-71 the last time the two teams met on Jan 4, 2009.
Kentucky is coming off a 104-61 pounding of Hartford on Tuesday night. Freshman point guard John Wall provided a record-breaking 16 assists in the win. The Cats shot 60 percent and made 14 3-point shots while posting their highest point total of the season. Darnell Dodson scored a season-high 19 points while DeMarcus Cousins posted his third straight double double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Wall was second in the SEC in scoring with 17.9 points per game through Dec. 27. He was shooting 52.2 percent from the field — 10th in the league, and had league-high 82 assists. The Wildcats are playing well from every spot on the hardwood.
The Cardinals’ Edgar Sosa scored 16 points and dished out five assists of his own as Louisville rolled past South Florida 73-52 on Wednesday night in a Big East opener for both teams. Samardo Samuels and Jared Swopshire both contributed 12 points apiece in the win. Louisville has stepped up and proved they could learn to play without the two stars from last year, Terrence Williams and Earl Clark — both leaving to go to the NBA, and have turned to Samuels for their leader on offense and an anchor for their man-to-man press on defense. There was a hiccup during the middle of December when the Redbirds lost consecutive games to Charlotte and Western Carolina, but coach Rick Pitino and his players turned up the defensive pressure and got the team back up and running with five straight wins.
The odds have not yet been posted for this contest.
I expect the Wildcats to finish the non-conference portion of their schedule with a win over Louisville.
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