LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One of college basketball’s biggest rivalries will be renewed Thursday night, Dec. 21, albeit with two teams headed in opposite directions. 

What You Need To Know

  • No. 9 Kentucky (8-2, 0-0 SEC) will visit Louisville (5-6, 0-1 ACC) Thursday, marking the Wildcats' first visit to the KFC Yum! Center in three years 

  • The Wildcats are coming off an 87-83 win over North Carolina while the Cardinals recently snapped a three-game skid in an 85-63 defeat of Pepperdine

  • Kentucky head coach John Calipari will face his former assistant, Louisville head coach Kenny Payne 

  • The game will air on ESPN, and tipoff is set for 6 p.m. EST 

No. 9 Kentucky (8-2, 0-0 SEC) will face Louisville (5-6, 0-1 ACC) at the KFC Yum! Center in this season’s edition, marking the first time the Wildcats have visited the arena since 2020 and the first since 2018 without pandemic restrictions. Kentucky leads the all-time series 38-17 and has won 12 of the last 15 meetings.

Having won six of their last seven games, the Wildcats are coming off an 87-83 victory against North Carolina Dec. 16, in which they generated a season-high nine blocked shots. The team has outscored its opponents 90.2-74.5. Senior guard Antonio Reeves leads the offense with 17.1 points per game while forward Tre Mitchell leads in rebounds with 6.2 per game. Freshman guard Reed Sheppard also ranks ninth in the U.S. with 2.9 steals per game. 

After an 0-3 start to December, which included losses to Virginia Tech, DePaul and Arkansas State, the Cardinals broke a three-game losing streak Dec. 17 with an 85-63 win over Pepperdine. With 15.4 points per game, sophomore guard Skyy Clark is the team’s leading scorer while junior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and freshman guard Ty-Laur Johnson lead in rebounds (9.2 per game) and assists (3.5 per game), respectively. Thursday will mark Louisville’s second game against a ranked opponent this season following an 81-80 loss to No. 19 Texas Nov. 19. 

Now in his 15th season as Kentucky head coach, John Calipari is 18-8 all-time against Louisville, including 12-3 with the Wildcats. Louisville head coach Kenny Payne is a former mentee of Calipari, having spent 10 seasons with Kentucky as an assistant and associate coach from 2010-20.

During Payne’s time in Lexington, the Wildcats went a combined 295-73, including four Final Four appearances and winning the 2012 national championship. Things haven’t gone as smoothly so far with the Cardinals, however. In his second season as Louisville head coach, his career record is 9-34 after going 4-28 (2-18 ACC) in 2022-23. In games against former assistants, Calipari is 19-1 all-time. 

Payne’s son, Louisville graduate senior guard/forward Zan Payne, spent four seasons as a Wildcat from 2018-22. He missed his first two seasons due to injury before playing in 11 combined games over his last two seasons. 

A Wildcats win would improve the program’s record to 133-36 all-time in games played in Louisville and mark their third straight win away from home. The Wildcats won last season’s matchup 86-63.

Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. EST.

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