No. 6 Louisville at No. 18 Kentucky final score: Wildcats knock off champs 73-66

Dec 28, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari reacts during the first half against the Louisville Cardinals at Rupp Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports /

The Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals have won the last two national titles and have combined for 11 in their rich history’s and 25 total final fours, and today’s clash between Rick Pitino and John Calipari’s teams could be a final four preview.

Kentucky withstood their in-state rivals second half charge to pick up a 66-73 home win. Kentucky improves to 10-3 on the year as Louisville suffers their second loss of the season and drop to 11-2.

Andrew Harrison and James Yound led the Wildcats in scoring with 18 points apiece as they picked up the slack when star freshman forward, Julius Randle got banged up and barely played in the second half. Randle still managed 17 points on 7-8 shooting.

Young and Willie Cauley-Stein managed to hit the glass hard with Randle in the locker room and on the bench for the bulk of the second half and tied for the team lead with 10 rebounds.

Louisville was led by guards Russ Smith and Chris Jones who poured in 19 and 18 points, respectively in the losing effort.

Kentucky is off until Jan, 8 when they open SEC play vs. the Mississippi State Bulldogs while Louisville travels to UCF to being American conference play Dec. 31.

15-30 UK h2h wins