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By LARRY VAUGHT
LOUISVILLE — So much for the first true road game bothering Kentucky’s freshmen.
Instead, UK freshmen Tyler Ulis, Karl Anthony-Towns, Trey Lyles and Devin Booker played with the poise of veterans to carry No. 1 UK to a 58-50 victory over No. 4 Louisville in a game dominated by defense.
Think about this. Kentucky (13-0) shot only 42 percent from the field, had 18 turnovers and got subpar games from veterans Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison and Willie Cauley-Stein. Yet the Cats led almost the entire game and handed the host Cardinals (11-1) their first loss of the season because of the Fab Four.
Ulis might be small, but the national stage was not too big for him. He took an elbow to the face that opened a cut above his eye, but his play helped deliver the knockout to Rick Pitino’s team. Ulis played with poise and confidence. He was 5-for-8 from the field, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range, and had a team-high 14 points and two assists. More importantly, he did not have a turnover in 26 minutes against Louisville’s pressure and just kept making right decisions.
Towns might have played his most physical, intense game. He was just 3-for-7 from the field, but he got to the foul line five times — UK did not shoot a free throw the first half — and had 10 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes to more than offset four turnovers.
“I just tried to play the game. The older guys got us ready. I just played,” Towns said.
Lyles was money early when UK was having trouble scoring. But he didn’t force shots. He had six points on 3-for-6 shooting along with nine boards, a career-high four assists and one steal in 30 minutes.
Booker had nine points and was 3-for-5 from the field. Like Ulis, he did not have a turnover in 28 minutes. That meant the two freshman guards played 54 minutes without a turnover in their first true collegiate road game in an environment that was more hostile than anything else UK will face this season.
“Is that right? I did not even know that,” Booker smiled and said.
Kentucky coach John Calipari didn’t know it, either, until told after the game and called it “impressive” to do that against the Cards’ defense.
How good were the freshmen? They scored 22 of UK’s 23 points in the second half after Cauley-Stein’s dunk made it 24-18.
“You all (in the media) and everyone else made this like the end-all game and our young guys performed. They did not get rattled and stayed focused,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “It was more physical than the Texas game and I didn’t think that was possible.”
However, it was UK’s defense that dazzled Pitino. Louisville had just one assist and shot just 25.9 percent from the field.
“I know one thing. They are one of the great defensive teams I have seen in 40 years. They can switch and not cause mismatches, can block shot. They are a great defensive team,” Pitino said.
So is that why his team had just one assist?
“I will tell you the truth. We missed about eight to 10 easy shots. Credit to them but we are offensively challenged,” Pitino said. “We had 18 (defensive deflections) the first half and seven the second. Their size wore us down. We don’t have much of a bench. They don’t have to worry about foul trouble and we wore down on defense in the second half.”
Pitino said UK’s length overwhelmed his team like it did Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and others earlier this season.
“Their length is pretty incredible,” Pitino said. “Not being able to pass like we want and not getting on the break ... we knew we could play good defense and force turnovers. The question is could we score and we couldn’t. They are a great basketball team.”
Maybe great enough to go unbeaten in the regular season now. Kentucky will not lose a home Southeastern Conference game. Just can’t see that happening. They have nine SEC road games, but none will be nearly as difficult as winning at Louisville.
Of course, Calipari is not buying any of that.
“They pick the German in World War II also,” Calipari joked when told that several ESPN anaylsts were predicting after the game that UK would not lose during the regular season.
He rattled off how every SEC road game would be sold out and teams would play better than usual against his team.
“We are going on the road in hostile environments and will be challenged,” Calipari said.
He listed Florida, LSU, Arkansas and Georgia as potential NCAA tourney teams.
“Our league is fine. Our league RPI is No. 2 in the country in non-conference schedule,” he said. “We are still trying to look and see where we can take this.”
True, but after taking Louisville’s best punch and surviving, Kentucky has everything in place for the historic season.
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