LEXINGTON, Ky. _ Kentucky's 90-61 victory over Louisville on Friday showed why coach John Calipari has been urging his players to concentrate on defense and purposeful drives.
Defense and drives not only smothered Louisville but suggested this was the formula for a happy new year.
Intensity paved the way to Kentucky's newfound defense and attention to driving to the rim. The Cats imposed their will, something Calipari found lacking in the loss to UCLA the previous weekend.
"We had no aggressiveness. ...," he said after that loss. "We still have a couple guys who aren't desperate enough."
Calipari said he wanted to get UK players in "a fight mode. And see if that is good enough. It may not be."
It was plenty good enough against Louisville. UK enjoyed its most lopsided victory in the rivalry since a 76-46 thumping on Dec. 18, 1999.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way as UK improved to 10-2. He scored a career-high 24 points.
Despite making only 40.6 percent of its shots in the first half, Kentucky led 41-27 at intermission. UK's first halftime lead since Monmouth was the result of defense and drives.
U of L made only 1 of 11 3-point shots, which was in sharp contest to the 12 for 30 shooting that enabled UCLA to beat Kentucky last weekend. This prompted Calipari to say of the Bruins' 3-pointers, "They were like we didn't guard them."
Overall, Louisville made only 11 of 37 shots in the first half.
Meanwhile, Kentucky did not settle for jump shots. The Cats took only six 3-point shots in the first half.
Instead, UK drove repeatedly to the basket. One result was more than three times as many free-throw attempts (18 to five) and an eight-point advantage in made free throws.
Kentucky took the lead for good on two PJ Washington free throws with 6:48 left in the half. That began a 12-0 run.
With Louisville scoring only one basket in the final 7:48 of the first half, Kentucky assumed full control.
Quade Green led Kentucky to further domination early in the second half. Playing without the tinted protective glasses for the first time since injuring an eye against Monmouth, he had a hand in UK's first nine points. He scored seven and fed PJ Washington for a dunk.
Gilgeous-Alexander took it from there. He scored 13 of UK's next 17 points. His back-to-back steals and drives in transition expanded the lead to 67-38 with barely 10 minutes left.
