Kentucky
Louisville vs Kentucky score today: UofL vs UK basketball game highlights from Rupp Arena
Kentucky vs Louisville Battle of the Bluegrass rivalry facts to know
No.5 Kentucky faces a Louisville team hungry for a signature win in the Battle of the Bluegrass at Rupp Arena on Saturday. Learn some rivalry facts.
LEXINGTON — Let’s rivalry.
Today, Louisville and Kentucky basketball will battle for the 57th time dating back to 1913. But this meeting at Rupp Arena will be unlike any in the series that came before it.
For the first time since 1930, the Cardinals (6-4) and Wildcats (9-1) underwent coaching changes during the same offseason; and the new guys in charge, Pat Kelsey and Mark Pope, did not bring back a single scholarship player from their predecessors’ final teams.
U of L is looking to snap a two-game losing streak in the rivalry, during which it’s had a 21-point average margin of defeat. If Kelsey can orchestrate its first win in Lexington since Jan. 5, 2008, with only eight healthy scholarship players at his disposal, it would be quite the statement. The Cards are 5-21 all time against UK on the road.
The Cats have a 39-17 advantage in the rivalry and dominated it under former coach John Calipari, who went 13-3 against Louisville before leaving for Arkansas and taking the man Kelsey succeeded, Kenny Payne, with him.
“I really believe in this: Unless you start winning one every once in a while, it kind of stops being a big rivalry,” Kelsey said Friday. “I’m well, well, well aware of that. I know how much it means to our fan base and this city to win this game.
“I put everything I got, and our players do, into our next opponent; and we’re doing the same stinkin’ thing for this game,” he added. “Just to make everybody feel a bit better at home — maybe a little bit more. Why not? Hopefully, that’ll settle people down. I understand; it’s big. It’s big to me.”
Kelsey and Pope have been complimentary of each other since they’ve stepped into the spotlight. On Friday, the former said the latter was, in his mind, the Naismith College Coach of the Year “if the season ended today.”
“In my opinion, this is the best (Kentucky team) in the last 10 years,” Kelsey said. “Not only is this team probably as dangerous and as talented and as potent (as the others), but they’re older, as well.”
Pope is, indeed, on a heater out of the gate. UK has top-10 wins over Duke and Gonzaga under its belt and entered the weekend with the No. 1 offense (91.1 points per game) and the 12th-best scoring margin (20.8) in the country. But the Cats are dealing with some injuries of their own; and their coach knows firsthand that anything can happen when these in-state rivals collide.
“It’s like going in the backyard with your brother and playing 1-on-1,” said Pope, who went 2-1 vs. Louisville as a player for Rick Pitino at Kentucky from 1994-96.
“We might as well take all of our analytics and just throw them out the window; because what we know is the game’s not going to look anything like all the other games looked like. It’s just a brawl.”
Follow along below with live updates from Rupp Arena:
We know the Cards will be without junior guard Koren Johnson, fifth-year forward Kasean Pryor, and senior forward Aboubacar Traore against Kentucky. Johnson and Pryor suffered season-ending shoulder and knee injuries, respectively; and Traore is still on the mend from a broken left arm.
The Cats will for certain be down one player: fifth-year guard Kerr Kriisa, who is out with a foot injury that required surgery this week. Starting point guard Lamont Butler, a graduate transfer from San Diego State, might miss his third game in a row due to an ankle injury he sustained during a Dec. 3 loss at Clemson.
“Lamont was on the court a little bit yesterday,” Pope said Friday. “He didn’t do anything with us, but he was on the court a little bit. We’ll kind of see how it goes today — try and roll him out there. I would love to have him; he would really help us. I just don’t know if he’s going to be quite ready.”
The game between the Cards and the Cats will air on ESPN, which is channel 602 on AT&T U-Verse; channel 206 on DirecTV; channel 140 on Dish; and channel 506 on Spectrum.
Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Jay Bilas (analyst) will be on the call.
If you have cable, you can livestream the game via the ESPN app or ESPN.com/watch.
Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) will have the call on the Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9-FM and WGTK 970-AM in Louisville). You can also listen online via GoCards.com.
Tom Leach (play-by-play) and Jack Givens (analyst) will have the call on the UK Sports Network (WHAS 840-AM in Louisville and WLAP 630-AM and WBUL 98.1-FM in Lexington). You can also listen online via UKAthletics.com.
Betting odds: Kentucky is a 11.5-point favorite (-110) on DraftKings, which set the over/under at 156.5 points (-110). The money line odds are: UK -575, U of L +425.
Score predictions: KenPom.com gives Kentucky an 85% chance of winning and projects an 83-72 final score in its favor. BartTorvik.com is also forecasting a Cats victory (84%), with a projected final score of 84-73.
- Monday, Oct. 21: vs. Young Harris College (exhibition) | SCORE: Louisville 106, Young Harris College 59
- Monday, Oct. 28: vs. Spalding (exhibition) | SCORE: Louisville 99, Spalding 54
- Monday, Nov. 4: vs. Morehead State | SCORE: Louisville 93, Morehead State 45
- Saturday. Nov. 9: vs. Tennessee | SCORE: Tennessee 77, Louisville 55
- Tuesday, Nov. 19: vs. Bellarmine | SCORE: Louisville 100, Bellarmine 68
- Friday, Nov. 22: vs. Winthrop | SCORE: Louisville 76, Winthrop 61
- Wednesday, Nov. 27: vs. Indiana (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas) | SCORE: Louisville 89, Indiana 61
- Thursday, Nov. 28: vs. West Virginia (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas) | SCORE: Louisville 79, West Virginia 70
- Friday, Nov. 29: vs. Oklahoma (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas) | SCORE: Oklahoma 69, Louisville 64
- Tuesday, Dec. 3: Ole Miss (SEC/ACC Challenge) | SCORE: Ole Miss 86, Louisville 63
- Sunday, Dec. 8: vs. Duke | SCORE: Duke 76, Louisville 65
- Wednesday, Dec. 11: vs. UTEP | SCORE: Louisville 77, UTEP 74
- Saturday, Dec. 14: at Kentucky, 5:15 p.m., ESPN
- Saturday, Dec. 21: at Florida State, 2 p.m., The CW
- Saturday, Dec. 28: vs. Eastern Kentucky, noon, The CW
- Wednesday, Jan. 1: vs. North Carolina, ACC Network
- Saturday, Jan. 4: at Virginia, 4 p.m., ACC Network
- Tuesday, Jan. 7: vs. Clemson, 7 p.m., either ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Saturday, Jan. 11: at Pittsburgh, either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Tuesday, Jan. 14: at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Jan. 18: vs. Virginia, either ESPN or ESPN2
- Tuesday, Jan. 21: at SMU, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Tuesday, Jan. 28: vs. Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 1: at Georgia Tech, 3:45 p.m., The CW
- Wednesday, Feb. 5: at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 8: vs. Miami
- Wednesday, Feb. 12: at N.C. State, 7 p.m., either ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Sunday, Feb. 16: at Notre Dame, 8 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 22: vs. Florida State, noon, The CW
- Tuesday, Feb. 25: at Virginia Tech, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, March 1: vs. Pittsburgh, either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Wednesday, March 5: vs. California, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, March 8: vs. Stanford, ESPNU
- Tuesday, March 11, through Saturday, March 15: ACC Tournament (Spectrum Center; Charlotte, North Carolina)
- Frank Anselem-Ibe (center, fifth year)
- Patrick Antonelli (guard, fifth year)
- Terrence Edwards Jr. (guard/forward, fifth year)
- J’Vonne Hadley (guard, fifth year)
- Chucky Hepburn (guard, senior)
- Koren Johnson (guard, junior)
- Aly Khalifa (center, senior, redshirt)
- Spencer Legg (guard, junior)
- Aidan McCool (guard, graduate student)
- Kasean Pryor (forward, fifth year)
- Kobe Rodgers (guard, senior, redshirt)
- Khani Rooths (forward, freshman)
- James Scott (forward, sophomore)
- Cole Sherman (guard, junior)
- Reyne Smith (guard, senior)
- Aboubacar Traore (forward, senior)
- Noah Waterman (forward, sixth year)
- Oct. 23: exhibition vs. Kentucky Wesleyan ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 123, Kentucky Wesleyan 52
- Oct. 29: exhibition vs. Minnesota State Mankato ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 98, Minnesota State Mankato 67
- Nov. 4: vs. Wright State (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 103, Wright State 62
- Nov. 9: vs. Bucknell (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 100, Bucknell 72
- Nov. 12: vs. Duke (Champions Classic; State Farm Arena, Atlanta) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 77, Duke 72
- Nov. 19: vs. Lipscomb, (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 97, Lipscomb 68
- Nov. 22: vs. Jackson State (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 108, Jackson State 59
- Nov. 26: vs. Western Kentucky (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 87, Western Kentucky 68
- Nov. 29: vs. Georgia State (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 105, Georgia State 76
- Dec. 3: at Clemson (ACC/SEC Challenge) ∣ SCORE: Clemson 70, Kentucky 66
- Dec. 7: vs. Gonzaga (Climate Pledge Arena; Seattle) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 90, Gonzaga 89 (OT)
- Dec. 11: vs. Colgate (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 78, Colgate 67
- Dec. 14: vs. Louisville (Rupp Arena), 5:15 p.m., ESPN
- Dec. 21: vs. Ohio State (CBS Sports Classic; Madison Square Garden, New York), 5:30 p.m., CBS
- Dec. 31: vs. Brown (Rupp Arena), 2 p.m., ESPNU
- Jan. 4: vs. Florida (Rupp Arena), 11 a.m., ESPN
- Jan. 7: at Georgia, 7 p.m., SEC Network
- Jan. 11: at Mississippi State, 8:30 p.m., SEC Network
- Jan. 14: vs. Texas A&M (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU
- Jan. 18: vs. Alabama (Rupp Arena), noon, ESPN
- Jan. 25: at Vanderbilt, 2:30 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2
- Jan. 28: at Tennessee, 7 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 1: vs. Arkansas (Rupp Arena), 9 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 4: at Ole Miss, 7 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 8: vs. South Carolina (Rupp Arena), noon, ESPN/ESPN2
- Feb. 11: vs. Tennessee (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 15: at Texas, 8 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 19: vs. Vanderbilt (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m., SEC Network
- Feb. 22: at Alabama, 6 p.m., ESPN
- Feb. 26: at Oklahoma, 9 p.m., SEC Network
- March 1: vs. Auburn (Rupp Arena), 1/4 p.m., ABC/ESPN
- March 4: vs. LSU (Rupp Arena), 7/9 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU
- March 8: at Missouri, noon, ESPN/SEC Network
- Ansley Almonor (forward, senior)
- Koby Brea (guard, graduate)
- Lamont Butler (guard, graduate)
- Andrew Carr (forward, graduate)
- Collin Chandler (guard, freshman)
- Grant Darbyshire (guard, junior)
- Brandon Garrison (forward, sophomore)
- Walker Horn (guard, junior)
- Kerr Kriisa (guard, senior)
- Trent Noah (forward, freshman)
- Otega Oweh (guard, junior)
- Travis Perry (guard, freshman)
- Jaxson Robinson (guard, graduate)
- Zach Tow (forward, junior)
- Amari Williams (center, graduate)
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Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
Kentucky
Trump takes his war against Thomas Massie straight to his home Kentucky district
WASHINGTON — President Trump will use his stop in Kentucky on Wednesday to try to get his congressional nemesis out of office.
His target is Rep. Thomas Massie, a seven-term congressman who the White House has named the “Democrats’ favorite member.”
Trump endorsed Massie’s primary opponent, Ed Gallrein, who will be at the event in Hebron, Ky., per his campaign. The president will also be making a stop in Ohio.
Hebron is located in Boone County, Ky., just south of Cincinnati.
The White House made its feelings on Massie clear.
“You can have differences, but you have to be constructive. He is not constructive. In fact, he’s the Democrats’ favorite member,” a senior administration official told The Post.
Massie has outraged the White House on multiple occasions: he refused to support Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which was the president’s signature domestic policy agenda; he criticized Trump’s foreign policy and accused him of executive overreach on the attacks on drug boats and Iran; and he led the charge on demanding the Justice Department release all its files in the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Now Trump is going to Massie’s district along the Ohio River to campaign against him, with the primary election just a little more than two months away, on May 19th.
Massie won’t be there.

“Congressman Massie will not be attending as he has a previously scheduled official event,” his campaign told The Post.
Trump has railed against Massie as “the worst Republican.”
He took a swipe at his biggest naysayer when he spoke to House Republicans at their retreat at Trump Doral on Monday.
“The Republican Party has fantastic spirit, the level I don’t think has been seen before,” Trump said. “We have to get a couple of people on board, which at least one case is virtually impossible. I wonder who that might be, sick person.”
It’s believed he was talking about Massie, who was not seen in the audience.
In contrast, Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL, has praised Trump, his policies and his handling of the war in Iran.
For his part, Massie has been posting Trump’s videos and comments attacking him, hoping to turn the criticism from the president into support from voters.
The May primary will be a test of Trump’s power with Republican voters. It’ll also be seen as a barometer of Trump’s messaging on the economy.
The White House has argued the cost of living is down but rising gas prices – from the attack on Iran – have dominated the news. Still, the president will tout his work on the issue.
“President Trump will visit the great states of Ohio and Kentucky on Wednesday to tout his economic victories and detail his administration’s aggressive, ongoing efforts to lower prices and make America more affordable,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston told The Post.
Kentucky
Northern Kentucky Norsemen claim Kentucky state hockey championship
Northern Kentucky brought home the Kentucky High School Hockey league state championship once again.
The Northern Kentucky Norsemen defeated Owensboro in dominant 5-0 fashion on March 8 to hoist the trophy. The Norsemen, comprised of players from schools across Northern Kentucky, earned their fourth state title since 2017. The Norsemen previously won in 2017, 2019 and 2023.
After entering the tournament as the top-seeded team, two wins brought the Norsemen to a 27-12-2 final record.
The Norsemen’s defense was in peak performance in the finals. Despite Owensboro getting off over 30 shots, senior goalkeeper Chase Bender kept a clean sheet.
On offense, junior Trevor Bauwens led the Norse, finishing the season with 35 goals and 12 assists. Other key offensive performers were seniors Mitchell Kirby and Samuel Mouser. Kirby ended the year with 19 goals and 22 assists, while Mouser had 16 goals and a team-best 30 assists.
Northern Kentucky is now set to represent the state in the USA Hockey High School National Championships. The tournament be held March 18-22 in Plymouth, Minnesota.
Kentucky
Data centers, election changes and other bills moving in Kentucky
Facts About the Kentucky General Assembly
Discover key facts about the Kentucky General Assembly, including its history, structure, and state government functions.
FRANKFORT, Ky. — If the current legislative session was the Kentucky Derby, we’d be coming around the final turn and entering the stretch.
Feb. 9 marks the 42nd day of the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly, with 18 to go. Lawmakers will continue to meet daily for the next three weeks until the veto period begins in early April, with two more days at the Capitol after that for legislators to vote on overriding potential vetoes.
The filing deadlines for new bills were last week, and many pieces of legislation are moving quickly in Frankfort. Here’s a quick look at bills that advanced last week that will be worth watching:
SB 8 — A reworked PSC
Senate Bill 8 would change the member requirements for the Kentucky Public Service Commission — which regulates more than 1,100 utilities operating statewide — and add two new members who would be appointed by the state auditor, effectively diluting the governor’s power or oversight of PSC membership.
Under the bill, the chair of the commission would be elected amongst the commissioners, not appointed by the governor. The chair’s salary? Also determined by the commissioners.
Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation will help support Kentuckians in reviewing utility rate cases and hopefully hasten the process.
Critics of the bill raised concerns about a section that would make the attorney general the sole representative for customers, requiring advocacy groups to prove a “special and unique” interest in the case — likely cutting advocacy groups out of the picture and preventing them from intervening in cases.
While on the floor, Smith introduced an amendment removing that section and creating a framework to allow advocates and organizations with legitimate interests to intervene.
Although the bill has passed the Senate, it will likely receive pushback from the governor’s office. In a Team Kentucky press conference, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear criticized the bill and the Republican-led legislature’s attempts at moving power from the governor’s office to the state auditor.
“They’ve done these shenanigans for six straight years,” Beshear said. “This is my sixth session as a governor, four as attorney general and a couple of special sessions. I’ve never seen them try to move something from a Republican officeholder to a Democratic officeholder, but I’ve seen them try to move a whole lot in the other direction.”
The bill passed 30-5 through the Senate on March 6. It now heads to the House.
SB 199 — Pesticide warnings
Senate Bill 199, sponsored by Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, would make any pesticide registered with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture or the Environmental Protection Agency that has an EPA-approved label automatically fit Kentucky’s warning label requirements. If passed, that would make it much more difficult for Kentuckians to sue pesticide manufacturers for adverse health risks later on.
Although it might not seem controversial at first glance, the bill united both hardline Republicans and Democrats on the Senate floor, with many raising concerns about the health risks of pesticide use. Several Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, Sen. Philip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, and Sen. Shelly Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, spoke against the bill and questioned the lobbying power of chemical companies that manufacture pesticides.
Wheeler brought up previous chemical agents that were found to be major causes of cancer, including DDT and Agent Orange, as well as the $7.25 billion proposed settlement from Bayer to resolve thousands of lawsuit that claim its weedkilling product Roundup caused cancer.
“If we give immunity in these cases, we’re essentially saying, if these claims are later proven to be true, and some of them are in pending litigation, we’re basically saying that these Kentuckians don’t matter, these Kentuckians don’t deserve to collect,” Wheeler said.
The bill passed through the Senate on March 5 with a 23-13 vote and will head to the House.
HB 534 — Elections omnibus
House Bill 534, from Rep. DJ Johnson, R-Owensboro, drew significant scrutiny before passing through the House. The elections legislation with several notable changes to current law moved to the Senate on a 53-40 vote on March 5, with several Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.
Some of the bill’s notable provisions include:
● Monthly reviews of noncitizens on Kentucky voter rolls, with a requirement to remove names of ineligible voters and notification sent to the state’s attorney general, along with authorization for the State Board of Elections to work with the federal government to identify noncitizens who are registered to vote;
● Removing names of individuals convicted of a felony whose cases are currently on appeal from voter rolls;
● Allowing candidates for judicial office to publicly discuss their political party affiliation;
● And allowing Kentucky politicians who currently hold elected federal office to be a candidate for two different federal offices in one election, if one of the offices is decided by the United States Electoral College. The only office that applies to is U.S. president.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has not hesitated at times to vote against President Donald Trump’s policies, has not shut the door on speculation he may make a run for the White House in 2028. He would also be up for reelection that year as a U.S. senator, a role he’s held since early 2011. State Rep. Joshua Watkins, D-Louisville, was the only representative to speak out against the provision during the March 5 vote on the House floor.
Other Democrats spoke up with concerns about disenfranchising voters appealing felony convictions, in the event the verdicts against them were to be later overturned. And multiple party members were critical of the provisions pertaining to noncitizens, with Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, calling them “another example of a nonproblem” aimed at riling up voters to be concerned about “a very major situation that isn’t actually happening.”
The bill advanced on a relatively narrow margin and is pending in the Senate.
HB 593 — Data center energy costs
House Bill 593 was filed by Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, with a group of five co-sponsors that includes House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect. The legislation would take steps to ensure companies hoping to build data centers in Kentucky are legitimate and are able to take on additional energy costs instead of dropping them on consumers.
The bill from Bray, who previously co-chaired the legislature’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force, includes several clauses regulating data centers, which are critical for AI usage but often require huge amounts of energy, a hurdle that frequently draws community criticism.
The legislation requires a nonrefundable application fee of at least $75,000 — Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said the clause could help scare off “cowboy developers” who buy large amounts of land in hopes of building a data center on the property but are unfamiliar with the development process — and requires the company to pay for an electric supplier study, with provisions aimed at ensuring the data center does not drive up service rates for non-data center customers.
The bill is on its way to the Senate after passing in the House on a 90-4 vote on March 4. It has not yet been given a committee assignment.
Reach Keely Doll at kdoll@courier-journal.com. Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. Reach The Courier Journal’s politics team at cjpolitics@courier-journal.com.
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