Kentucky

Louisville vs Kentucky score today: UofL vs UK basketball game highlights from Rupp Arena

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1 year ago

December 14, 2024

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Louisville vs Kentucky score today: UofL vs UK basketball game highlights from Rupp Arena

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.

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Kentucky

Vanderbilt baseball’s series win vs Kentucky revelatory

Published

5 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Vanderbilt baseball’s series win vs Kentucky revelatory

Entering the weekend, Vanderbilt baseball had gotten swept in its only SEC series in which it hadn’t won the first game.

So the Commodores had a tough task in a series they badly needed after dropping the opener 5-2 on a walk-off grand slam after Vanderbilt’s best healthy starter, Connor Fennell, pitched well.

But the Commodores (24-17, 9-9 SEC) rebounded to take the series with an 8-7 win in the second game and a 13-6 win in the finale April 19. They did that despite not having any pitcher go more than three innings in either game. Though the pitching was still shaky at times — they issued more free passes than strikeouts in both of the wins — they worked out of enough jams to let the offense go to work.

Here’s what we learned from the series.

Will Hampton proves an unlikely hero for the offense

Vanderbilt got strong performances from a few of its typical top performers, including Braden Holcomb (6-for-13, four doubles) and Brodie Johnston (4-for-12, two home runs, three walks). But one of the biggest hits of the series came from the unlikeliest of sources.

Logan Johnstone was held out of the finale after colliding with Mike Mancini in Game 2, and in his place coach Tim Corbin opted to go with redshirt freshman Will Hampton in left field. Hampton had recorded just six college plate appearances, all of which were in nonconference games.

But Hampton reached in all three of his plate appearances against Kentucky, first on a single, then a walk. In the sixth inning, with the score tied, he came up with the bases loaded and two outs and blasted a grand slam, giving Vanderbilt its first lead.

Tyler Baird learns the ups and downs of being a closer

Freshman Tyler Baird has been Vanderbilt’s closer for the past three weeks, recording his first save April 2 against Texas A&M. But he learned the pitfalls that can come with that role in Game 1 against Kentucky. Summoned for an eight-out save with the Commodores leading 2-1, he retired the first five batters, but loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth. He struck out the next two batters but then gave up the walk-off grand slam.

Baird returned for Game 3, this time attempting a five-out save and coming in with runners on first and second and one out with a three-run lead in the eighth inning. He allowed both inherited runners to score, but kept the lead and then had a scoreless ninth inning after Vanderbilt scored three runs in the top of the inning.

Baird’s emergence has been key for the Commodores, and the Game 3 bounce-back was especially important.

Vanderbilt’s RPI shows improvement

On April 15, Vanderbilt was 95th in RPI, a mark that wasn’t going to cut it for NCAA Tournament selection. But with a road series win against a Kentucky team that started the week in the top 20 of RPI, the Commodores moved all the way up to 75th, according to Warren Nolan.

While Vanderbilt will need to keep moving up — a top-50 mark would be ideal — the series win did a lot. In the next two weeks, it will face two top-five RPI teams in Alabama and Texas, giving more opportunity to improve its standing.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.

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Kentucky

Missing on this PF in the transfer portal could be a good thing for Kentucky

Published

17 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Missing on this PF in the transfer portal could be a good thing for Kentucky

Power forward has been one of the positions that Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have to fill with Andrija Jelavic and Mo Dioubate gone. The two players that Pope has had on campus at the power forward position are Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman and Colorado’s Sebastian Rancik. Both are really good players, but Freeman is better by a wide margin.

It has felt that entire time that Kentucky wanted Rancik as the backup to Freeman or a backup plan if they weren’t able to land Freeman. Well, Rancik just picked Florida State, so perhaps this is a sign that the Wildcats will land Freeman.

Feb 11, 2026; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Colorado Buffaloes forward Sebastian Rancik (7) looks to pass the ball against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first half at United Supermarkets Arena. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images | Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

Big Blue Nation was torn on Rancik, but I do believe he would have been a really solid backup power forward. I personally didn’t want him to be the starting four for this team. It is clear that he wanted to go somewhere where he could be the guy at the four, so he will be heading to the ACC to play for FSU.

Now that Kentucky has missed on Rancik, it is very important that the Wildcats land Freeman soon. The problem with waiting on some of these players is the fact that the portal isn’t slowing down. If Pope targets two power forwards and misses on both of them, most of the good fours in the portal will be gone.

There will be some panic in Lexington if the Wildcats are not able to land Freeman, but I do believe the Wildcats are in a good spot to land the elite power forward. From the beginning, Freeman has been my top player for Kentucky in the portal, as he, plus Malachi Moreno, will give the Wildcats an elite frontcourt.

Mar 7, 2026; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Donnie Freeman (1) warms up prior to the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

If Pope is able to land Freeman and Tyran Stokes to pair with Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Moreno, and Kam Williams, this could be the start of a really good team in Lexington. Hopefully, an announcement for where Freeman will transfer comes soon, and hopefully, this will be to play for Pope at Kentucky.

Fans of rival teams will say Pope “whiffed” on Rancik, but if this whiff was because the Wildcats are set to land Freeman soon, then it was more than worth it for Kentucky. If the Wildcats are able to land Freeman, it will officially be time for Big Blue Nation to start getting excited about the 2026-27 season. I expect a decision from Freeman to come within the next day or two.

Rancik would have been a solid backup four in Lexington but Freeman has been the guy from the beggining for this staff so if Kentucky lands him all is well. If the staff misses on Freeman not landing Rancik will look bad.

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Kentucky

Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report

Jones posted on Twitter that “Kentucky will have (absent a major change) either Freeman or Rancik by tomorrow,” while also noting the Wildcats still need to add another shooter and another big to round out the roster.

One of the top targets is Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore forward transferring from Syracuse. Freeman arrived in Lexington on Tuesday night and began his visit on Wednesday before leaving without a commitment. While there was concern he could land at UConn, that visit has since been canceled, leaving Kentucky and St. John’s as the top teams.

Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game last season, while adding nearly a block and a steal per contest. He shot 47.4% from the field but 30.2% from 3-point range across 23 games.

The other option is Sebastian Rancik, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore forward transferring from Colorado. Rancik visited Kentucky starting Wednesday through Thursday and brings a versatile skill set, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 33.1% from 3.

Either Freeman or Rancik would provide a significant boost at the power forward position for head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has already added guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins in the portal.

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