For Matthew Mitchell, another loss to U of L — but UK shows reasons for hope

On an interview on a Louisville radio show Sunday morning, Cardinals Coach Jeff Walz singled out one key to defeating Kentucky.

Noting that Matthew Mitchell’s Wildcats were forcing an average of 27 turnovers per game entering the contest, Walz said U of L’s goal was limiting its miscues to between 12 and 16.

“If we do that, I like our chances,” Walz said.

Later Sunday, before a raucous KFC Yum Center crowd of 13,786, Walz’s Cardinals were exceeding their coach’s fondest wishes.

Entering the fourth quarter, Kentucky had only forced Louisville into three turnovers. For the game, U of L lost the ball only seven times.

Yet, denied the staple of its playing style and down 18 points, the Cats nevertheless found themselves down only five points with 1:55 left in the game.

“I was proud of our team’s fight,” UK’s Mitchell said afterwards. “... They won’t give up.”

Behind 32 points from the splendid Asia Durr, No. 5 Louisville (10-0) beat No. 19 Kentucky (9-1) 80-75. It was U of L’s third straight victory in our state’s marquee college women’s basketball game and it evened the head-to-head coaching rivalry between Walz and Mitchell at 6-6.

“A great win for us, a top-25 win,” Walz said. “It’s a win that is going to look good on our resume.”

UK lost in spite of a stellar all-around performance from emerging star Rhyne Howard. Against the most talented team she has yet faced as a college basketball player, the freshman from Cleveland, Tenn., went for 25 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.

Let’s be clear up front: There is no such thing as a moral victory. U of L won and UK lost.

Still, Louisville has four starters back from the team that lost to Mississippi State in last season’s Final Four. Kentucky is trying to climb upward after a mass exodus of players and recruits during and after the 2015-16 season hollowed out the Wildcats’ talent level and led to UK missing the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time in nine years.

In that context, Mitchell learned some things about his team Sunday that should bode well for UK’s future, both this season and long-term.

With the possible exceptions of Mississippi State and Tennessee — emphasis on possible — Louisville is the best team Kentucky will face during the regular season.

The Cardinals’ combination of veterans and explosive guards, led by senior Durr (13 of 25 field goals), bouncy junior Jazmine Jones (12 points, four assists) and dynamic super-sub Dana Evans (10 points, two assists) totally negated UK’s defensive pressure.

“Our guards are good,” Walz said, asked how U of L overcame Kentucky’s defensive pressure.

Denied the turnovers it usually feeds off, Kentucky went very flat in the third quarter, getting beaten repeatedly off the dribble for layups and falling behind by 18.

Mitchell said that stretch “probably ended up deciding the game.”

Yet, as worrisome as it might be that UK couldn’t turn U of L over, the Cats had to rely on their half-court offense and found a way to claw back and put the game into doubt.

“We just had a hard time making some reads,” Mitchell said. “But I thought we got better in the fourth quarter. You saw, we got some really excellent shots where (earlier in the game), we were struggling to get good shots.”

That’s a positive.

In the biggest test of her young college career to date, Howard aced the exam.

The 6-foot-2 freshman was Kentucky’s hub. UK’s best offense came when it ran through Howard. With U of L’s defense set on denying the three-point line, Howard drove the ball and finished through contact to the tune of nine field goals in 17 attempts.

One time “I had a hand in her face and she still make the shot,” said Louisville center Sam Fuehring. “I was like ‘Damn, she’s good.’”

Said Walz of Howard: “She’s a big-time player. I’d put her up there as a candidate for feshman of the year nationally.”

If everyone stays healthy, the backcourt combination of Howard and seniors Taylor Murray (18 points) and Maci Morris (11 points while battling foul trouble) should get UK back into the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19, especially with the SEC looking less daunting than it has been in recent years.

Long term, Howard is the type of play that can take Kentucky where it has never been — a Final Four — if Mitchell and his staff can recruit well enough around her.

At Kentucky, there are no good losses to Louisville.

This one, however, did come with some viable reasons for UK hope.

Mark Story (859) 231-3230; Twitter: @markcstory