Date Set for Louisville-Kentucky Rivalry Matchup
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A date has officially been set for the annual rivalry matchup between the Louisville and Kentucky men's basketball programs.
The Cardinals will travel to Rupp Arena to face the Wildcats on Wednesday, Dec. 22, the program announced Monday. Tip-off time and television designation has yet to be determined.
It will the first time in four years that the Battle of the Bluegrass will not be held on a Saturday, and the first time in five years it will take place on a Wednesday. Louisville won 73-70 on Dec. 21, 2016 at the KFC Yum! Center - their last Wednesday matchup against Kentucky.
This will be the 55th all-time meeting between the Cards and Cats, and the 42nd meeting since the 1983 'Dream Game' that resulted in the series resumption. Louisville won 62-59 in their previous meeting on Dec. 26, 2020 at the KFC Yum! Center, thanks in part to a 20-point performance from guard Carlik Jones.
Louisville has yet to formally announces the rest of their non-conference schedule, but we know most of their opponents. They will host Furman and Detroit Mercy on yet-to-be-announced dates, as well as Navy on Tuesday, Nov. 9 and DePaul on Dec. 10. They will also travel to Michigan State on Dec. 1 for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and Western Kentucky on Saturday, Dec. 18.
Their lone neutral site regular season games will see them head to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship, where they will play Mississippi State on Thursday, Nov. 27, and Maryland or Richmond on Saturday, Nov. 29.
Louisville opened up the 2020-21 season at 9-1, and were ranked as high as the No. 16 team in the nation. But due to COVID issues, injuries, and at times offensive inconsistencies, they went 4-6 in the second half of the season to finish at 13-7 and 8-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference - missing the NCAA Tournament by a razor-thin margin.
(Photo of Chris Mack, John Calipari: Michael Clevenger - Louisville Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
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