Cardinals Stun No. 3 Kentucky

A lot of people were surprised by the Louisville Cardinals' upset of the No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats. However, none of them played for Louisville.

"There was no doubt in my mind we could beat them," forward Tony Williams said after the Cardinals beat the Wildcats 83-74 Saturday at Freedom Hall. "We all knew we could do this. This is our house and we're going to protect our house."

Marques Maybin scored 19 points, including seven consecutive late in the second half, as Louisville beat its bitter intrastate rival for the second consecutive season.

Williams and Cameron Murray each added 14 points as Louisville (5-2), banned from postseason play by the NCAA earlier this year, won its third consecutive game.

"This was a big win for our kids because everybody thought it was a fluke last year -- and it probably was," said Louisville coach Denny Crum, referring to last year's 79-76 victory at Rupp Arena. "These kids played their hearts out today and they played well."

Kentucky (10-3), which was coming off a 71-60 loss to second-ranked Duke, has lost two consecutive games for the first time since 1994.

"Louisville certainly played a great game and really executed when they had to," said Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, who did not make his players available for interviews after the game.

"We had some breakdowns in our full-court pressure and they were able to capitalize. Their quickness hurt us and their pressure was very effective."

The Cardinals stopped the charging No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats Saturday. (AP)

The Cardinals forced Kentucky into 18 turnovers and held the Wildcats to 46 percent shooting from the field, including only 2-of-15 from 3-point range.

Scott Padgett led Kentucky with 13 points, Michael Bradley had 12 and Wayne Turner and Ryan Hogan each had 11. But the Wildcats' trio of seniors -- Padgett, Turner and Heshimu Evans -- shot a combined 14-of-30 from the field and 0-of-7 from behind the 3-point line.

"The key to stopping Kentucky was stopping the three seniors," said Louisville senior Alex Sanders, who had five points and nine rebounds. "We stopped Wayne Turner's penetration, Heshimu Evans' big plays and Scott Padgett's shooting."

After building a 75-60 lead with 4:56 remaining, Louisville failed to make a field goal the rest of the way. However, the Cardinals went 8-of-11 from the foul line to seal the victory.

"We made some mistakes and did a lot of things that make you scratch your head, but that's the nature of this team," Crum said. "We played pretty darn good and if we could play that way every night, we'd be a pretty good team."

Kentucky lost only three games last season en route to its second NCAA championship in three years. Meanwhile, the Cardinals finished 12-20, only their second losing season in Crum's 27 seasons at the school.

After Louisville took a 16-13 lead, Hogan and Turner each scored four points during a 12-2 run to put Kentucky ahead 25-18 with 9:57 left in the first half.

Louisville then went on a 16-3 run, including seven consecutive points by Nate Johnson, to go up 34-28 with 5:10 remaining.

The Cardinals shot 63 percent en route to a 47-40 halftime lead, and hit consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half. However, they then missed 13 straight shots and Kentucky rallied to cut Louisville's lead to 55-51 on Padgett's layup with 12:47 left.

Frustrations boiled over at the final buzzer when Kentucky's Jamaal Magloire hit Johnson from behind on a layup, sparking a shoving match under the basket. The two had been called for a double technical on a similar play earlier in the second half.

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