Kentucky vs. Louisville: Preview, Odds & How to Watch

You know what time it is, Big Blue Nation. This matchup needs no introduction. Cats vs. Cards, winner earns bragging rights for the year. Last season was about Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey dipping their feet into the rivalry, but now, they’re fully immersed — and nearly coming to blows themselves, let alone anything else that happens on the court.

Kentucky pulled off the home win in 2024, and now, Louisville is hoping to return the favor at the KFC Yum! Center in 2025, the earliest the Battle of the Bluegrass has ever been played.

Can Pope make it 2-0 in the current series, earning the upset road win as an underdog against one of the best offenses in college basketball? KSR has everything you need to know about the matchup.

Kentucky vs. Louisville: How to Watch, Listen

• Tipoff: 8:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas)
• Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
• FM: 98.1 WBUL
• Online: iHeart Radio
• Sirius XM: 117 or 190

You can also follow along on the KSR LIVE BLOG, which will start a few hours before tipoff, and join the conversation on KSBoard.

Lock in for the 2025 Kentucky Basketball season with KSR Plus! We’re giving you behind-the-scenes intel you won’t find anywhere else. Join the most vibrant online community in the BBN during Mark Pope’s second season.

Season Rewind

Kentucky: KenPom 1

• 11/4: 77-51 W vs. Nicholls
• 11/7: 107-59 W vs. Valparaiso

Louisville: KenPom 11

• 11/3: 104-45 W vs. South Carolina State
• 11/6: 106-70 W vs. Jackson State

Series History

Kentucky leads the all-time series 40-17 while also holding a 14-10 overall record at Louisville. Mark Pope is 1-1 against the Cardinals and 1-0 as the head coach of the Wildcats while Pat Kelsey is 0-2 all-time against UK. The current streak sits at three straight wins for the blue and white.

Last year’s victory was a 93-85 final score at Rupp Arena, led by Lamont Butler with a career-high 33 points on a perfect 10-10 shooting and 6-6 from three. Otega Oweh added 17 points in that one, followed by Jaxson Robinson with 12 and Andrew Carr and Koby Brea with 10 apiece.

Kentucky vs. Louisville Odds

UofL has opened as a 2.5-point favorite, according to our friends at BetMGM, with the over/under set at 168.5 points. Kentucky’s point total has been listed at 83.5 compared to 86.5 for Louisville.

KenPom predicts an 84-83 loss for the Wildcats on the road, giving Pope’s squad a 49 percent chance to pull off the victory. Elsewhere, BartTorvik is going with an 85-79 loss for the blue and white with a 32 percent chance to win outright. It’s similar pessimism with ESPN’s Matchup Predictor, which gives UK a 27.1 percent chance to open the year 3-0.

Kentucky Potential Starters

#15 – Jaland Lowe
6-1 – 170 – GUARD – JUNIOR
6.0 PPG, 5.0 APG, 2.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG

#1 – Denzel Aberdeen
6-5 – 195 – GUARD – SENIOR
11.0 PPG, 4.0 APG, 4.5 RPG

#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – JUNIOR
14.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.5 APG

#23 – Mouhamed Dioubate
6-7 – 220 – FORWARD – JUNIOR
10.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.0 APG

#10 – Brandon Garrison
6-10 – 245 – FORWARD – JUNIOR
10.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.5 APG

Louisville Potential Starters

#0 – Mikel Brown Jr.
6-5 – 180 – GUARD – FRESHMAN
14.5 PPG, 7.5 APG, 4.0 RPG

#10 – Isaac McKneely
6-4 – 195 – GUARD – SENIOR
12.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.0 APG

#3 – Ryan Conwell
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – SENIOR
15.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.5 APG

#9 – Khani Rooths
6-10 – 210 – FORWARD – SOPHOMORE
18.0 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.0 APG

#13 – Sananda Fru
6-11 – 245 – FORWARD – JUNIOR
10.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.0 BPG

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

• Malachi Moreno had 18 points and 10 rebounds in UK’s win vs. Valpo. It marked the first double-double of his career and the first of the season for any UK player.
• Dating back to last season, Collin Chandler has made 21 of his last 40 3-point attempts. He’s currently leading the team in scoring (14.5 PPG), steals (1.0 SPG), blocks (1.0 BPG) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.533)
• Kentucky has allowed 59 or fewer points in its first two games of the season for the first time since 2014-15
• This will be the 58th meeting between the Cats and Cards, but the first time since 2019-20 that both teams will be ranked. It’s also the earliest the Battle of the Bluegrass has ever been played, 1993 marking the only other time UK vs. UL has been played in November.

Pregame Storylines

“F*** THEM” – KASEAN PRYOR, WHO GUARANTEED A WIN

As the Louisville forward walked off the stage following his team’s most recent win over Jackson State, he told reporters, “We’ll see you guys on Tuesday. After a win. F*** them.” Pryor also added that he spent his entire time rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered last year with Kentucky in mind, eyeing a target return date for just before this matchup.

Kentucky players did not have much to say in response, saying, “We don’t pay attention to outside noise” and “They just over there talking, doing what they do.”

“I just can’t wait to see them, I just can’t wait to see them,” Otega Oweh said. “That’s all.”

POPE VS. KELSEY PT. 2

Round one of Kentucky vs. Louisville in the new era of the rivalry under Mark Pope and Kelsey went to the Wildcats, a 93-85 final score at Rupp Arena. That one was all about Lamont Butler going nuclear for 33 points, but we also got a fun dust-up near the Cardinal bench with Brandon Garrison ready to take on the entire team by himself. Will we see any extracurriculars in this one? If this offseason’s fight between Pope and Kelsey outside a five-star recruit’s apartment shortly after midnight is any indication, odds are good.

SLOWING DOWN MIKEL BROWN JR.

Louisville was proud to sign the five-star freshman out of high school this past recruiting cycle, the gem of the program’s 2025 class, ranked No. 1 among point guards. He’s a dynamic scorer at all three levels and a future lottery pick, living up to the hype through two games as a Cardinal, averaging 14.5 points, 7.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds on 53/33/100 splits in 22.5 minutes per contest.

Can Jaland Lowe match his production as a Preseason All-SEC guard himself? Will Denzel Aberdeen draw that defensive assignment? Brown is certainly sitting atop Kentucky’s scouting report.

POPE WILL NOT HAVE JURY DUTY THIS WEEK

There was concern the Kentucky head coach would have to juggle jury duty while prepping for this crucial matchup, telling fans he’d be calling in Sunday evening to find out if he had to report on Monday. Pope checked in and learned his services would not be necessary to open the week while also missing Tuesday thanks to the Veterans Day holiday.

“I’m done! So, I’m out!” Pope said. “I love you telephone service! Let’s go beat the Cards.”

No excuses now.

THE BIGGEST GAME BECAUSE IT’S THE NEXT GAME

Kentucky has this one circled on the calendar, but not because it’s a rivalry game. The Wildcats have every game circled, because they’re all equally important in the program’s pursuit of banner No. 9.

“In-state games are great. Rivalry games are great. It’s going to be an all-out war,” Pope said. “The nice thing for us is, that’s every single game for us. It’s Kentucky. Every single game is life or death.”

WILL TRENT NOAH PLAY FOR KENTUCKY?

Lowe and Aberdeen are back for the Wildcats, but Noah went down with an ankle injury against Nicholls and missed the team’s second game of the season vs. Valpo. The good news? Pope said, “He’s gonna be back soon,” while describing his status against the Beacons as a “toss-up” ahead of that one.

“Just trying to get him healthy,” he said, adding, “he’s never going to tell you that he’s in pain, ever, ever, ever.” Odds are slim to none that the Harlan native will be willing to skip this in-state rivalry matchup, especially after earning DNP-CD status last season.

Join The Discussion on KSBoard

Want to interact with the KSR crew during the game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates as your eyes and ears inside the KFC Yum! Center while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).

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Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel

Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction live from the KFC Yum! Center on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from Mark Pope and the players, stats, and takeaways.

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