Louisville Basketball: 2020-21 keys for Cardinals to beat Kentucky Wildcats

Louisville Basketball looks to put a potential nail in the coffin on rival Kentucky this weekend.

Injuries have affected few teams more than Louisville Basketball so far this season. They’ve yet to have two projected starters play in Malik Williams and Charles Minlend and last Saturday had to play Wisconsin without star guard Carlik Jones. His absence proved to be too much for the Cardinals to overcome, losing by a whopping 37 points.

The good news for Louisville this past week was that they were able to get back Jones against a Pittsburgh team that was missing its two top scorers themselves. It proved to be a tougher game than expected, with the Cardinals pulling out a 64-64 win. Jones had 11 points and seven assists back, while David Johnson (17 points and 11 rebounds) and Samuell Williamson (14 points and 12 rebounds) each had a double-double.

Louisville now takes its attention towards in-state rival Kentucky, who is in the midst of a five-game losing streak. They lost last week against North Carolina by 12 points but all of the news was what was happening on the bench. There are signs of a crumbling locker room and head coach John Calipari asked reserve forward Cam’Ron Fletcher to step away from the team. But even if things do get better for the program off the court, it’s what’s happening “on” the court that is the main problem.

In most circumstances, Louisville would be a clear underdog due to its health issues. But based on the Wildcats issues, this is a great opportunity not only for local bragging rights but also to add to the misery of Kentucky Basketball fans. Here are three keys the Cardinals will need to have happen in order to win.