Date set for the Kentucky-Louisville basketball rivalry game. This one will be different.
.JPG "John Calipari, right, and former Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne coached against each other in the UK-Louisville rivalry for the first time last year. The Wildcats won, 86-63, in Rupp Arena.")
The next edition of the annual Kentucky-Louisville men’s basketball rivalry game has an official date on the 2023-24 schedule.
The Wildcats and Cardinals will meet Thursday, Dec. 21 in the Yum Center.
This will be the first time in six years that UK and U of L will play on a day other than Saturday. It’ll also mark the first time since 2018 that the two teams will play in front of a (presumably) capacity crowd in the Yum Center. The last time the rivals played on Louisville’s home court was Dec. 26, 2020, and attendance for that game was only 3,281 due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UK officially released its entire 2023-24 non-conference schedule Thursday.
Quite a bit has changed in the rivalry since Kentucky and Louisville faced off in front of the raucous energy of a packed Yum Center crowd. In the last such game five years ago, Chris Mack was in his first season as head coach of the Cardinals, and Kenny Payne was the top assistant on John Calipari’s coaching staff at UK.
Now, Payne — a U of L alumnus — is heading into his second season as the Cards’ head coach.
Louisville got off to a rough start in Payne’s first year on the job, losing its first nine games and finishing with a 4-28 record and 2-18 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cardinals ended up 290th nationally in the final KenPom ratings for the 2022-23 season, last among teams from power conferences.
U of L should fare better in year two of the Payne era, though outside expectations aren’t exactly high for the Cardinals, who rank No. 146 nationally in the preseason Torvik ratings, which have Louisville at No. 14 in the ACC (ahead of only Notre Dame).
Payne should have more talent on this year’s roster, with eight new scholarship players expected to be on the team, including some intriguing transfers and the nation’s No. 6 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports rankings.
Former Southern Cal player Tre White — a 6-foot-7 guard — headlines the new additions as the nation’s No. 33-ranked transfer, according to 247Sports. U of L also brings in ex-Illinois guard Skyy Clark (a former UK basketball signee) plus ex-Miami wing Danilo Jovanovich out of the transfer portal. Clark projects as the starting point guard this season.
The Cardinals’ recruiting class is led by 7-1 center Dennis Evans, a top-30 national prospect. (Another top-30 recruit, 6-8 wing Trentyn Flowers, backed out of his U of L commitment earlier this month to start his pro career overseas, a blow to Payne’s program.) Louisville native Kaleb Glenn — a 6-6 forward long touted as one of the best prospects in Kentucky — will also make his much-anticipated debut for the Cards this season.
The only scholarship returnees from Louisville’s 4-28 season will be Mike James, JJ Traynor, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Emmanuel Okorafor.
James, Traynor and Huntley-Hatfield were among the top five in points and minutes per game for the Cardinals last season, and Okorafor was a mid-season addition who has shown intriguing potential as a post player.
U of L’s leading scorer from last season, El Ellis, transferred to Arkansas earlier this year.
Payne projected cautious optimism during a press conference looking ahead to his second season as head coach late last month, though he also highlighted the challenges of elevating Louisville’s program to its past greatness after years of turmoil.
“Listen, elephant in the room, guys — I know we gotta win games,” Payne said. “Every single time we take the floor, our job is to win games. But, I am building a program. I am changing a culture. And in order to do that, I got to first get them to understand the process of winning.”
U of L hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019 — though the Cards would have made the 2020 field, if not for the COVID-19 pandemic — and the team hasn’t advanced to the second week of March Madness since 2015.
Kentucky defeated Louisville, 86-63, last season in Rupp Arena. The 2021 edition of the game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues. U of L beat UK in 2020 — the game that was played with fewer than 4,000 fans in the Yum Center due to COVID-19 protocols — but the Cards have had a tough time in the rivalry in recent years.
Calipari boasts a 12-3 overall record against Louisville during his time as Kentucky’s head coach, including two victories over the Cardinals in NCAA Tournament games. Calipari is 3-3 against U of L in games played in the Yum Center.
Kentucky is also expected to have nine new scholarship players — eight freshmen and one transfer — though the Wildcats are likely to begin the season ranked inside the top 20 nationally.
UK’s full 2023-24 schedule is expected to be announced in early September with the reveal of dates and times for Southeastern Conference games.
Kentucky’s 2023-24 non-conference schedule
Home games in all capital letters
Mon., Nov. 6: NEW MEXICO STATE
Fri., Nov. 10: TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE-1
Tues., Nov. 14: Kansas-2
Fri., Nov. 17: STONEHILL-1
Mon., Nov. 20: SAINT JOSEPH’S-1
Fri., Nov. 24: MARSHALL
Tues., Nov. 28: MIAMI (FLA.)-3
Sat., Dec. 2: UNC WILMINGTON
Sat., Dec. 9: Penn-4
Sat., Dec. 16: North Carolina-5
Thurs., Dec. 21: At Louisville
Fri., Dec. 29: ILLINOIS STATE
Sat., Feb. 10: GONZAGA
1-Wildcat Challenge at Rupp Arena; 2-Champions Classic at United Center in Chicago; 3-ACC-SEC Challenge; 4-At the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia; 5-CBS Sports Classic at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
This story was originally published August 24, 2023 at 2:04 PM.
