Both Kentucky, Louisville need win non-conference win

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Posted 8:41PM on Friday, December 15, 2006

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A funny thing happened on the way to one of the fiercest rivalries in college basketball. Louisville and Kentucky are both pretty average this season. In an annual game that Louisville coach Rick Pitino called at least the second biggest rivalry in the nation, the result won't make a splash on the national college basketball scene. Saturday's game in Louisville will be the first time since the 2000-01 season that neither the Cardinals nor Wildcats will be ranked. And like all coaches say, it's just one game. But it's a game that both could use right now. Kentucky is 6-3, with their losses coming from UCLA, Memphis and North Carolina, all ranked 19th or better by The Associated Press. But the Wildcats haven't beaten a ranked team either. The Cardinals are 5-3 with losses to No. 10 Arizona, and Dayton and Massachusetts of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Neither Kentucky nor Louisville is struggling, but neither is great, Pitino said. They have a combined 11 games against ranked conference opponents coming up this season. So looking down the road to March, wins against big-name, non-conference opponents are precious. ``It's a game we have to get,'' Kentucky guard Joe Crawford said. ``Louisville is a good team. It's an in-state rivalry so it's a big game.'' The Cardinals' most recent loss was to Massachusetts, coached by Travis Ford, who played for Pitino at Kentucky in the early 90s. The Cardinals fell behind by 17 in the first half, fought back to a tie, only to lose 72-68. ``We need a win right now,'' Pitino said. ``So it's very, very important. It just happens to be Kentucky. We don't want to be 5-4.'' There's no telling how some of the most demanding fans on both sides in college basketball will take their team getting their fourth loss of the season. Some Kentucky fans have been calling for Tubby Smith's job for years, nicknaming him ``10-loss Tubby'' after three consecutive seasons ended with double-digit losses. Kentucky's championship in 1998, Smith's first year at Kentucky, has been credited to the players that Pitino recruited. Some Louisville fans are grumbling this year that the game may have passed Pitino by, just two years after a 33-win season and trip to the Final Four. Cardinals' co-leading scorer, Terrence Williams (12.3 points per game) learned that Kentucky's fan base includes the city of Louisville. A grocery store cashier in Louisville told him, ``I hope you lose tomorrow,'' he said. But a Louisville fan also told him, beating Kentucky is the only game he cared about. Williams is also second on the team in rebounding ( 7.6 per game) and shares the scoring lead with freshman point guard Edgar Sosa. Kentucky or not, Williams said Louisville just needs to get back to winning. ``Three losses is too many for Coach P, I feel,'' Williams said. ``So we owe him this game and we owe the fans the game because we lost at home. You don't let nobody come into your backyard and steal your barbecue grill. That's what UMass did.'' The Wildcats' best chance to win will come from center Randolph Morris. The 6-foot-11 junior center has had at least 16 points and seven rebounds in their past five games. Louisville has allowed an opponents' post player to score 20 or more in four games. ``Randolph's our No. 1 option,'' Smith said. ``He's leading us in scoring and so it's important (to get him going), not necessarily because of what they don't do, but because of what we do best.'' Both teams know emotions will be high, but it's only a step toward where they want to be at the end of the season. ``You've got to be emotional, ready to play, but you've got to be under control,'' Smith said. ``Because coach Pitino and myself are friends, it makes it (tough). ... It's not fun. ... We've got to play another game afterward so it's not the end of the world.''