U of L tries to tune out hype before UK game

The older players on the University of Louisville basketball team debated a delicate topic in the locker room on Tuesday after their win over Cal State Northridge.

Their annual rivalry game against Kentucky was fast approaching and they wanted to find the right balance of UK talk with their seven new teammates. The freshmen, team captains Wayne Blackshear and Montrezl Harrell said, might not fully grasp the intensity of the rivalry and the immense amount of vitriol that comes with it.

What kind of social interaction should the new guys expect around the city in the buildup to the game? Can they ignore comments on their social media accounts and the media hype surrounding the matchup?

How they've wrestled with those questions over the past few days will have a significant -- though impossible to measure -- impact when the teams tip off at 2 p.m. Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center in the 48th installment of the rivalry.

"I think we handle it well," said Blackshear, a senior who has played in four UK-U of L games.

Story continues below Jeff Greer prediction video

"We really know what the game is all about. I know how it's going to be this whole week. The only thing we can tell the freshmen is don't pay any attention to it."

Related:Why Terry Rozier's the X-factor on Saturday

Point-counterpoint:Himmelsbach and Sullivan break down UK-U of L

Fourth-ranked U of L will, however, pay a lot of attention to last season's Sweet 16 loss to UK, if Louisville coach Rick Pitino's Tuesday comments mean anything.

Louisville led by as many 13 and either held the lead or was tied with UK from 19:09 mark in the first half until there were just 86 seconds left in the game. Over the final five minutes, UK overwhelmed U of L on the glass and finished the game on a 16-5 run.

"We stayed toe-to-toe with them last year, and at the end they just kicked our butts on the glass," Pitino said.

If nothing else, Pitino hopes that game serves as a lesson for his veteran players, and he'll try to use it as a motivating factor for those seven new faces on this season's team.

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But it's also important to note the changes to both squads.

The major roster attrition for U of L, which is still adjusting to life without All-American Russ Smith and former Final Four MVP Luke Hancock, has brought about some hit-or-miss performances in early games.

Louisville (11-0) has had some highs – a 94-74 drilling of Indiana and a first-half suffocation of Ohio State – and some lows. But the Cards were disappointed by their lethargic performances against UNC Wilmington and Cal State Northridge in the past two weeks, and they just outlasted Western Kentucky in a chippy affair in Bowling Green last Saturday.

"We get caught up in playing how our opponent plays," sophomore guard Terry Rozier said. "If we play a tough opponent, we play tough. If we play a team that's not so hyped up, we don't play that well. That's a habit we have to lose."

Related:Rozier worries about bad habits ahead of UK game

For his part, Pitino said on his radio show that he never worries about his players' emotions ahead of games like Kentucky or Ohio State. He worries about them in games against the Northridges and Wilmingtons of the world, just like Rozier said.

Pitino's reasoning was simple: U of L players, rookies and veterans alike, know the kind of challenge that Kentucky poses, and no extra motivation is needed.

Consider Saturday the toughest test yet of Pitino's theory.

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who will provide color commentary on the game's broadcast, believes UK could be the best college basketball team since UNLV's dominant run over the 1990-91 season. Other analysts wonder if Louisville is the last serious threat to Kentucky going undefeated this season.

Those are some high stakes, even beyond the usual UK-U of L rivalry fodder that dominates Christmas dinners and office parties in the days before the game.

And on Saturday, around 2 o'clock, it'll be abundantly clear how Louisville's players, especially the younger ones, have handled all that outside noise.

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).