Kentucky vs. Louisville final score: 3 things we learned in the Wildcats’ blowout win

Kentucky vs. Louisville was always going to feel different in its first year without Rick Pitino. As Pitino unceremoniously exited Louisville earlier in the year, this great rivalry lost its central character. It left questions on both sides: Would Kentucky now assert its dominance without a Hall of Fame coach on the other sideline? Would Louisville be able to compete with 32-year-old David Padgett at the helm?

We were provided with a definitive answer on Friday, and it’s not one Cardinals fans want to hear.

Kentucky blitzed Louisville, 90-61, in an afternoon showdown at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats took control with a 25-8 run to end the first half and never looked back.

Freshman guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was Kentucky’s breakout star. He finished with 24 points off the bench on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and also used his 7’0 wingspan to flummox the Cards on defense.

As a team, Kentucky held Louisville to just 34.8 shooting from the field.

The win moves the Wildcats to 10-2, while Louisville falls to 10-3. This is a game Louisville would love to forget. Here’s what we learned.

This is what happened on the first possession of the game:

That’s Hamidou Diallo, Kentucky’s stud freshman shooting guard with a record 44.5-inch vertical leap. Diallo’s explosiveness is indicative of a larger trend throughout the roster: This Kentucky team is hyperathletic across all five positions.

This was not a one-off highlight. Here’s Sacha Killeya-Jones throwing down an alley-oop minutes later:

Diallo had 14 points in the win, and it felt like Kentucky had twice that many dunks. The Wildcats are going to be a force to be reckoned with all season when they leverage their athleticism like this.

There was a time during the preseason when some thought this Louisville team was good enough to go to the Final Four. That was when Brian Bowen was still supposed to be on the team, Rick Pitino was its head coach, and the Cardinals were yet to be involved in the FBI’s wide-ranging corruption scandal.

What’s obvious now is that this just isn’t the same team. How could it be without Pitino? The Cards still have a lot of talent with Deng Adel, Quentin Snider and a loaded frontcourt, but it seems likely this team isn’t destined for a deep NCAA tournament run.

Louisville shot only 3-of-25 from three-point range. They were outrebounded, 44-37. They just couldn’t compete with a Kentucky team with as much size and athleticism as any team in the country.

If Louisville can still make the NCAA tournament, it would be a good season. But right now, the Cardinals have a lot of work to do.

The SEC is good this year. Texas A&M is a legitimate top-10 team. Tennessee is one of the country’s biggest surprises. Florida has hit a rough patch, but the Gators are still super talented.

After seeing how Kentucky played against Louisville, though, the Wildcats deserve to be the favorite entering conference season.