Cards come out on top over Cats, 96-88

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The No. 9 Cats surged to show second-half signs of life, but the No. 12 Cardinals ultimately earned the kill Tuesday night, 96-88 in the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville's win snapped a 3-game Kentucky streak.

The Cats suffer their first official loss of the season (2-1), while the needle moves to 1-1 in the Pope-Kelsey era of the rivalry.

Louisville's pair of preseason All-ACC first teamers played like it Tuesday night, with freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. leading the way with 29 points, while senior guard Ryan Conwell poured in 24 of his own.

Kentucky was paced by Denzel Aberdeen, who finished his first UK-UofL game with 26 points on 10-20 shooting from the field (4-10 from deep) to go with a team-high seven rebounds. Only two Cats joined him in double figures: Otega Oweh (12 points: 4-13 field goals, 1-6 from beyond-the-arc) and Collin Chandler (12 points: 4-7 field goals, 4-6 from beyond-the-arc). Both Oweh and Chandler fouled out in the game's final minute.

As a team, the Cats shot 47 percent from the field, 35 percent from deep (12-34) and 75 percent from the charity stripe (12-16), compared to a 45/33/68 split by the Cards.

Two double-digit Louisville runs made the difference in the first half and, ultimately, in the game, as Louisville forced the Cats into multiple dry spells.

First, it was a 13-0 run by the home team, which was eventually snapped by an Andrija Jelavic layup; later, a 10-0 spurt was finally stopped by an Aberdeen jumper.

The Cards led by as many as 18 in the first half (46-28), but the Cats were able to shrink it in the final minutes, thanks primarily to scores from Oweh and Aberdeen.

After a fast-paced first half, the Cardinals took a 53-46 lead with them into the locker room.

Brown Jr. got one more shot to fall before the break, giving him 20 points in the game's first 20 minutes, his first 16. Louisville finished the first half shooting 51 percent from the field but, after the aforementioned lengthy droughts, the Cats finally found an offensive rhythm, making seven of their final eight field-goal attempts of the first.

The Cards stayed hot out of the break, burying a three within seconds of play resuming. The long ball by Conwell stretched their lead back to double figures, 56-46.

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After battling cramps on the sideline for a few minutes, Brown Jr. earned his next two points approximately eight minutes into the second half, via the charity stripe. His 21st and 22nd point of the night gave his team a 20-point advantage, 78-58, with 12 minutes to play. It was Louisville's largest lead.

Chandler drained a pair of triples and Kam Williams hit his first of the year then added a put-back dunk to help the Cats cut it to an eight-point game with fewer than eight minutes remaining.

Chandler hit a third with four minutes on the clock to get back within four points. They would get no closer.

Kentucky finished the night with 14 assists to 14 turnovers, while the Cards earned a 20-6 ratio.

The Wildcats will return to Rupp Arena Friday evening for a matchup with Eastern Illinois. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.

The Cats travel to New York City next week for the State Farm Champions Classic. The 2025 edition of the annual showcase will pit Mark Pope and Kentucky against Tom Izzo and Michigan State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

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