By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEXINGTON - Sure, it was personal. Rick Pitino isn't without ego, and this was his career high for boos.

Yet the fact he trumpeted Louisville's 65-56 victory Saturday at Kentucky as the most special of his career wasn't personal, he insisted, because of his ties to the home team.

"My best win ever - not what it meant, but in terms of overcoming the elements, the climate," the Cardinals coach said. "Obviously winning a championship or going to a Final Four is much more significant and important. But what this team had to overcome ... is the best moment I've had with a basketball team."

To wit: beating the team ranked No. 2 in the media poll and No. 1 in the coaches poll, one out for revenge and playing at home. And doing it from 14 points down.

It was surely a shocker. Even Pitino said as much.

Yet it was also a near replay of the upset Louisville pulled last season - after which UK had won 27 consecutive regular-season games entering Saturday.

The 20th-ranked Cardinals (7-1) beat UK (7-1) at its own game: toughness and defense. It became the first team to outrebound UK, and it raced past the wilting Wildcats late in the game.

"I don't know what happened," UK senior guard Gerald Fitch said.

What the fans will say happened is this: Pitino got the upper hand. The veteran coach is 2-1 against the Wildcats, whom he coached for eight seasons and led back to prominence.

UK coach Tubby Smith had the adulation of his home fans Saturday. But when the final buzzer sounded, he stood 3-4 against Louisville.

"I'm disappointed in our play," Smith said. "We're ... not playing with the poise and patience that we needed to."

Last season, Louisville rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit in beating UK. In the second half, it hit 53.6 percent to UK's 34.5 percent and won the rebounding battle 21-12.

Saturday, it rallied from 14 points down in the first half. In the second half, Louisville shot 54.2 percent to UK's 33.3 percent and outrebounded the Wildcats 20-12.

"We just wanted it more," Louisville center Kendall Dartez said.

Perhaps the Wildcats unraveled a bit. They had trouble penetrating, and on the rare occasions they got the ball inside the Cardinals trapped quickly. UK started settling for outside shots, attempting 25 3-pointers.

"We started panicking," UK sophomore Kelenna Azubuike said.

Said Smith: "You can look at (us) taking 25 3s and them taking 14; that tells you we were not playing our game."

Down 51-50, Louisville outscored UK 15-5 down the stretch. The Wildcats made a basket on just one of their final 12 possessions, going 1-of-9 with two turnovers. It was resorting to one-on-one moves that went nowhere.

"I think we got in their heads," Louisville's Taquan Dean said. "They started arguing. At the end, they were tired."

This marked the second No. 1 team Louisville has beaten, following an upset of Florida in Freedom Hall. Pitino is amending his preseason proclamation that this was a rebuilding season.

"We're still very young," he said.

Said Louisville's Francisco Garcia: "We still have a lot of work to do. We want to be great."

The Cardinals spoke of wanting to win this one for Pitino. If he wouldn't gloat, they would.

"I lost respect for their fans, booing him," Dean said. "He's such a great coach. To come in here and win for him was great."

Said Dartez: "He's strong to do that. I don't think I could come back in front of people who hate me and perform like him."

Louisville	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Whitehead	33	4	13	3	4	6	2	2	3	11
Garcia	32	4	9	0	0	7	5	4	2	10
Dartez	19	3	4	0	0	3	0	1	5	6
Dean	32	2	11	0	0	5	2	3	4	5
Daniels	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Diakite	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Jenkins	9	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	2
Mohammad	16	3	4	1	1	3	0	2	0	7
O'Bannon	27	1	4	8	8	3	0	0	0	11
George	25	5	7	3	3	8	0	2	1	13
Totals	200	23	54	15	16	38	9	16	16	65

Team rebounds - 2.

Kentucky	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Daniels	32	4	11	1	2	8	1	4	3	9
Azubuike	33	4	10	2	3	1	0	1	1	12
Hayes	39	2	8	0	0	9	3	2	1	4
Hawkins	27	4	11	0	0	2	3	4	5	12
Fitch	32	3	12	1	1	2	3	1	3	9
Stockton	19	2	5	3	3	0	1	1	1	8
Obrzut	8	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0
Barbour	10	1	2	0	0	3	1	1	1	2
Totals	200	20	59	7	9	30	12	15	16	56

Team rebounds - 4.

Louisville	26	39	- 65
Kentucky	31	25	- 56

3-pointers - Louisville 4-14 (Garcia 2-5, Dean 1-6, Daniels 0-1, O'Bannon 1-1, George 0-1), Kentucky 9-25 (Daniels 0-1, Azubuike 2-5, Hawkins 4-6, Fitch 2-10, Stockton 1-3). Technicals - None. Officials - Clougherty, Valentine, Crawford. Attendance - 24,328.