Every rivalry has its ebs and flows, but currently in the Louisville–Kentucky basketball series, the Cardinals have mainly been on the receiving end of elbows without delivering too many blows in return.
Pat Kelsey has to change that on Tuesday.
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It’s just the third game of the season and the earliest U of L and UK have ever played in the series.
Losing would not eliminate U of L from making the NCAA Tournament. It has no impact on its pursuit of the program’s first ACC championship. But if the Cards are to fulfill their potential this season, it has to start with a win against the Wildcats at the KFC Yum! Center.
It’s pretty simple. The Cards need to win way more than the Cats do.
Through U of L coaches Rick Pitino, to David Padgett, to Chris Mack, to Kenny Payne to Kelsey, it hasn’t really mattered who was on the sideline or how good Louisville’s team eventually proved to be. The Wildcats have gotten the better of the Cards for all but three games since John Calipari entered the chat in 2009.
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That’s not quite ownership, but UK is working on a lease while U of L is defaulting on its part of the agreement.
What makes a rivalry special is a certain balance to it, which creates a level of respect for the opponent, however begrudgingly.
The North Carolina and Duke basketball rivalry is the standard-bearer not because of the eight miles on U.S. 15-501 separating the campuses, but both schools win their share of high-stakes games.
And both have pulled upsets even when in a given year one could clearly be better than the other. Just as a reminder, Duke beat UNC by 20 in Chapel Hill in Mike Krzyzewski’s final season, only to see the Tar Heels ruin his final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium and end his coaching tenure in the 2022 Final Four.
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When UK has had the better team in the past decade, it has won. When Louisville has had the better team in the past decade, UK has won more often than not.
That’s not balance.
That’s getting bullied.
The Cards are in a good spot this season. The game is at the KFC Yum! Center. They have forward Kasean Pryor, who was injured and did not play in the loss to the Cats last season, back in the lineup. They’ve got shooting; they’ve got veterans. And quite possibly, for the first time in two decades, they have the biggest freshman talent on the floor in guard Mikel Brown Jr.
By all accounts they have a team that can stand toe to toe with the UK squad Mark Pope assembled.
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Louisville has a schedule stacked with marquee opponents in non-conference play and the ACC gave it the contender treatment, as evidenced by the amount of games showcased on ESPN. The Cards have to prove themselves worthy.
Kelsey has something to prove too.
Last season he cleared the low expectations of a rebuild with no problem. But winning a big game in a big spot?
The win over a ranked Indiana squad in the Bahamas, while it signaled that the bad times were over, was of little significance when the Hoosiers flamed out.
Beating Clemson meant U of L would finish second in the ACC’s regular-season standings and the Cards’ win over the Tigers in the league tournament clinched their first appearance in the championship game.
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But this ain’t football. Beating Clemson has never been the barometer of showing greatness.
Beating Kentucky has been and it’s time Louisville lives up to its part in this rivalry.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball, Pat Kelsey need to win UofL-Kentucky game
