As Louisville basketball prepares to meet Kentucky for the 54th time, we give our predictions.
Louisville basketball fans have analyzed the Kentucky game from every possible angle. The only thing left is for our staff to give their predictions.
Presley Meyer:
If you take Louisville and Kentucky’s resumes at face value, the Cardinals are clearly the better team. Louisville has one of the best backcourts in the country, is a skilled rebounding squad, and defends at a high level. Outside of a few good minutes against North Carolina and a comeback bid against Notre Dame, Kentucky has been god awful.
Add to this the fact that the Wildcats have had serious locker room issues, and stir in a bit of general 2020 drama and you have a recipe for a team bordering disaster territory.
Kentucky is a team that is desperate. John Calipari publicly suspended a player from the team after he had a tearful breakdown during the last game. Then, Kentucky posted perhaps the most cringe-inducing fake juice video I’ve seen in 2020 on social media
The Cats are desperate. But are they desperate enough to sort things out on the road, the day after Christmas, against a Louisville basketball team that smells blood? I highly doubt it.
As a superstitious Louisville basketball fan, I know something weird as hell is going to happen on Saturday.
However, as someone who has watched every game both of these teams have played this season, I understand that it would be a massive upset if the Cats somehow pulled this off. This game will be called closely. Both teams will be in foul trouble, and Carlik Jones makes double-digit free throws to fend off UK. Gimme that Cardinal head.
Louisville 71, Kentucky 64
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Alan Thomas:
Riding the emotion of losing a teammate or simply being at a crossroads, Kentucky makes it interesting in the first 30 minutes. Louisville fans will be quivering with anxiety until the final segments of the game, when shooting percentages catch up to the Cats.
Big man play is God tomorrow on both sides. Expect to hear Jae’Lyn Withers’ and Dre Davis’ names called many times over.
Louisville 72, Kentucky 64
Ethan Sprowles
Louisville basketball’s backcourt is too much to handle for UK and we see big games from Carlik Jones and David Johnson – which needs to happen for Louisville to win.
UK’s struggling backcourt and its turnovers continue to plague the team and Louisville comes out on top with a win.
Louisville 75, Kentucky 63
Spencer Brown:
Louisville 61, Kentucky 53
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Will Reddington:
Louisville 59, Kentucky 53
Madison Wood:
Samuell Williamson is going to have to be aggressive offensively like he was at Pitt, to set the tone early. Dre Davis is my X factor just because he played okay at Pitt but I think he expects more from himself. Williamson prides himself on toughness & he’ll be looking to flex his muscles on Saturday.
Hot take: I think David Johnson could have a career high assist day if he continues to drive the lane & put pressure on the defense. I don’t like predicting wins because I’ve been burned so many times before in this game. But if I can’t pick my Cards to win against one of the worst UK teams in recent memory, I feel like my fan card should be revoked. Since UK always gets up for the rivalry, I say we win by less than 10.
Louisville 70, Kentucky 63
Jacob Lane:
Louisville enters this rivalry matchup as the better team for the first time in several years. Despite having multiple five-star recruits and players who were deemed “one and done,” Kentucky is lost. They can’t shoot. They don’t have a consistent bench. They are young and they make a lot of mistakes. And their coach just picked three players to be attitude czar… like what?
Even with that being said I expect them to show up and play with their hair on fire. Fortunately, they’ll meet a team even more determined and focused on winning.
Roles are reversed and Louisville shows up like the team that knows they are better. I expect a tough performance from Kentucky but behind a breakout game from Samuell Williamson and a big shooting day from either Quinn Slazinski or Josh Nickelberry, Louisville pulls away.
Louisville 69, Kentucky 62
Matt McGavic:
This has the potential to be like Western Kentucky, except with not as a big of a score discrepancy. Olivier Sarr will get his because of Louisville basketball’s relatively inexperienced frontcourt, and the Cards could struggle at times to penetrate the lane. But Kentucky’s underlying issues such as shooting and turnovers, as well as the experience and ability of the Cardinals in the backcourt and on the wing will give them the advantage.
Louisville 68, Kentucky 61
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