Kelsey was hired in late March with an even taller task of lifting Louisville from two historically bad seasons under former Cardinals player Kenny Payne, who previously spent 10 years as Calipari’s assistant. (Payne has reunited with Calipari at Arkansas.)

The Kentucky Wildcats were able to take down the Louisville Cardinals in the first matchup of the Mark Pope vs. Pat Kelsey era. Despite nearly leading wire-to-wire, Kentucky had to battle for 40 minutes to pull out the victory,

The dawn of a new era in the Kentucky vs. Louisville series began with a bang Saturday night as No. 5 Kentucky held off a feisty Louisville team inside Rupp Arena to score a 93-85 win, giving first-year Wildcats coach Mark Pope the first blow over first-year Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey in one of college basketball's best rivalries.

Lamont Butler returned from a two-game absence to shoot perfect from the field for a career-high 33 points, including six 3-pointers, and No. 5 Kentucky held off rival Louisville 93-85 on Saturday for Bluegrass supremacy.