The 2025-26 renewal of the Kentucky-Louisville men’s basketball rivalry tipped off Tuesday night with plenty of anticipation—and Louisville delivered. A sold-out KFC Yum Center crowd of 22,586 witnessed the Cardinals pull off a 96-88 victory over the Wildcats, their first full house since March 2017. Even Cleveland Cavaliers star and Louisville alum Donovan Mitchell made the trip to see the showdown firsthand.
For much of the game, it looked like the Cards would cruise. Freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. poured in 29 points, while seasoned wing Ryan Conwell added 24 in his third game for his fourth college team. At one point, Louisville led Kentucky 78-58 with 12 minutes left, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Kentucky didn’t roll over. A late 26-10 run cut the deficit to 88-84 with just over four minutes remaining, but Brown answered with five straight points, sealing Louisville’s victory. It marked only Louisville’s fourth win against Kentucky in the last 18 meetings—a reminder of how rare an intrastate triumph still is.
Since arriving at Louisville, head coach Pat Kelsey has emphasized that for the rivalry to truly matter, the Cardinals must win more often. “It ceases to be a rivalry unless you win one every once in a while,” Kelsey said after the game. “We were able to get one tonight.”
For Kentucky, the loss exposed some early-season growing pains. Mark Pope’s second Wildcats roster doesn’t carry the same offensive firepower as last year’s team but was expected to bring defense, rebounding, and toughness. On Tuesday, Louisville’s Brown and Conwell sliced through the Kentucky defense too easily. “We did a poor job in transition,” Pope said. “We lost the discipline of our defensive principles, which was incredibly disappointing.”
The stats tell the story: Kentucky narrowly won the rebounding battle 42-40, but turned the ball over 14 times compared to Louisville’s six. Louisville assisted on 20 made field goals, while Kentucky managed just 14 assists on 32 baskets. “We got punished for not playing the right way,” Pope said.
Individually, Kentucky struggled. Senior guard Otega Oweh, usually a reliable scorer, went 4-for-13 from the field, missed five of six 3-pointers, and turned the ball over five times. Point guard Jaland Lowe, just back from a shoulder injury and only in his second game with Kentucky, shot 2-for-8 and committed three turnovers, though he did finish with nine points and five assists.
There were glimpses of hope, though. Tulane transfer Kam Williams played 12 minutes in the second half, scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds, finishing with a team-best plus-11 in his time on the floor. Pope will likely continue to experiment with rotations as the season progresses.
“If it weren’t so early,” Pope admitted, “Kentucky fans would have some things to worry about.” Still, there’s reason to believe the Cats can tighten things up as they grow into this season.
