Bluegrass battle intense every time

LEXINGTON, Ky. - There is no downplaying the rivalry between Louisville and Kentucky, no matter how hard players from both schools tried.

While insisting that today’s game is part of the journey toward a national championship, they understand its importance in a basketball-crazed state where everything grinds to a halt for several hours and relationships can be affected by the outcome.

“This is the one game everybody in Kentucky looks forward to,” Kentucky forward Alex Poythress said. “This is the one game they circle on their calendars. In their eyes, they really could care less about other games.”

Both schools also look forward to a marquee victory before league play begins next month.

The No. 18 Wildcats (9-3) are looking for their first Top25 victory in four tries. Sixth-ranked and defending champ Louisville (11-1) also wants to beat a ranked opponent, a mutual goal that adds more drama to the matchup at Rupp Arena.

Despite the challenge of playing before a standing-room-only crowd in the 23,000-seat building, Cardinals guard Russ Smith believes his team has to approach this as just another game.

“It’s obviously a big game, I’m not going to beat around the bush, but I’m from New York,” Smith said. “I know it’s a big game for the guys and the people in Kentucky, so I play for them.

“I play for my town, and I play for my school. It is a rivalry game.”

For the Wildcats, it’s about progressing with their eight man group of talented freshmen that includes six high school All-Americans. There have been plenty of moments where 6-9 forward Julius Randle, identical twin guards Andrew and Aaron Harrison and James Young have shown their impressive abilities and controlled games.

But their talents have sometimes been overshadowed in losses to ranked opponents such as Michigan, Baylor and North Carolina, particularly in clutch situations. Though Kentucky Coach John Calipari stresses that the better time to judge his young roster will be in February and March, a fervent fan base that was expecting an unbeaten season along with a championship wants more immediate results, especially against their biggest rival located 80 miles west.

“We’re just trying to show we’re still a good team,” he said.

Louisville Coach Rick Pitino has seen this rivalry from both benches. He led Kentucky to its sixth national title in 1996 and two other Final Fours before taking over the Cardinals in 2001 and guiding them to three Final Fours and their third NCAA title in April.

While Pitino’s focus is on building for the postseason, he enjoys the tournament-like atmosphere that figures to be present today. His message to players and maybe even the Cardinals’ fan base is keeping the game in perspective in a long season.

“It’s two great traditions and two teams that right now have a shot of getting back to a Final Four if they improve as the season goes on,” Pitino said. “I think John [Calipari] would say the same thing.

“His team is going to have to get a lot better to be a serious contender, and I would say the same thing. We’re going to have to get better to be a serious contender. But we both have the ability to do that.”