National Basketball Association
Louisville 80, Kentucky 77
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 29, 2012
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials:
# John Cahill, # Ed Corbett, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
22810
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 3 Louisville 80, No. 23 Kentucky 77: Russ Smith scored 21 points and Chane Behanan added 20 as the host Cardinals won their seventh straight and snapped a four-game losing streak to their arch rivals.
Peyton Siva added 19 points before fouling out for Louisville, which led by as many as 17 before denying a furious Kentucky rally.
Louisville (12-1) held the Wildcats to 37 percent shooting in the first half and led 36-28 at the break. The Cardinals opened the second half on a 15-6 run capped by Smith’s steal and layup.
Taking advantage of Louisville’s foul trouble, the Wildcats closed within two on Ryan Harrow’s jumper with 5:25 left. Smith gathered his own miss and scored to push the lead back to five with 4:40 to go.
Kentucky (8-4) saw its four-game win streak end despite 22 points from Archie Goodwin and 17 from Harrow. Kentucky beat Louisville twice last season, including 69-61 in the Final Four on the Wildcats’ path to their eighth national title.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cardinals center Gorgui Dieng, who broke his left wrist Nov. 23 during the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas, returned Saturday and had six points and seven rebounds. ... The Cardinals entered leading the nation in turnover margin (plus-8.6). They committed nine turnovers to Kentucky's 14. ... The Wildcats hit just 11 of 23 free throws.
Top Game Performances
Kentucky |
|
Louisville |
Archie Goodwin 22 |
Scoring |
Russ Smith 21 |
Ryan Harrow 3 |
Assists |
Chane Behanan 3 |
Willie Cauley-Stein 8 |
Rebounds |
Chane Behanan 7 |
Ryan Harrow 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Montrezl Harrell 5 |
Ryan Harrow 2 |
Steals |
Chane Behanan 3 |
Willie Cauley-Stein 3 |
Blocks |
Gorgui Dieng 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Kentucky
|
77 |
48.3 |
10-21 |
11-23 |
10 |
38 |
5 |
5 |
15 |
Louisville
|
80 |
48.4 |
3-7 |
17-25 |
11 |
35 |
4 |
9 |
9 |