Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check (football): Louisville by 10.

—Southern Illinois’ preparation did little to help it Tuesday night against Louisville.

The Salukis came two Armon Fletcher 3-pointers from matching their school record for the fewest points in a game in the modern era at the KFC Yum! Center. Deng Adel scored 16 points and had one of the 18th-ranked Cardinals' nine blocks in their 84-42 win that didn't even seem that close.

"Guys, we guarded the first half," said a disappointed Barry Hinson, whose team only trailed by 11 at the half. "We did a good job. We did a good job on the boards.

"The thing that bothered me more than anything was how we shot the ball, and how we turned it over, and I didn't see that coming."

—Oh lawd it’s on.

—Thanksgiving Week is now one of the most important on the college basketball calendar. Here’s me with more on that.

—Speaking of which, the Battle 4 Atlantis kicks off today, and it’s loaded once again. It’s also sponsored by Bad Boy Mowers now, which I assume has at least one commercial featuring Ma$e cutting his grass. If not then they're spending their ad dollars on the wrong things.

—America’s two greatest Ken’s both celebrated birthday’s yesterday: Klein and Griffey Jr.

—John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader says that even Kentucky fans need to appreciate Lamar Jackson.

Last February, Jackson was in Lexington to accept the Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year award at the Bluegrass Sports Banquet. He could not have been classier or more generous with his time. As his U of L chaperones were urging him to leave, Jackson kept posing for pictures and signing autographs. He made plenty of Lexington friends that night.

He will encounter a less friendly Lexington crowd on Saturday. As it should be. Louisville wants to avenge last year’s loss to the Cats at Papa John’s. Kentucky wants to become the program’s first team since 1984 to win eight games in a regular season. The Cats and their fans want to say bye-bye to Lamar by winning a second straight game over the Cardinals.

Hopefully, however, they take a moment, even if just to themselves, to show some love to Lamar along the way.

—The first Kentucky boys high school basketball top 25 of the season is out, and it has three local squads — No. 1 Trinity, No. 4 Fern Creek and No. 5 Ballard — in the top five.

—Shoutout to this Manual freshman on getting some national recognition for his service work.

—Just one more night of Maui Mike Brey.

Guy’s the best.

—This piece on a 16-year-old running back phenom and the gridiron war between public and private schools in Los Angeles is a really good read.

—The fourth-ranked U of L women’s basketball team is back in action on Friday against Murray State. Here’s an early preview.

—This is pretty hilarious.

—New information reveals that Manute Bol lied about his age and may have been 50 when he was last playing in the NBA.

—Congrats to U of L volleyballer Melanie McHenry on being named the ACC Player of the Week.

—The growing movement to combine Louisville and Indiana apparel is tearing apart this country.

—WDRB’s Tom Lane has a one-on-one interview with interim U of L athletic director Vince Tyra.

—Pete Thamel and Pat Forde profile controversial NBA agent Andy Miller, who is tied to the college hoops scandal.

—This is how you do a campus visit on rivalry week.

—”Electric” Asia Durr is on the verge of becoming a household name.

—Louisville at Purdue is Big Ten Powerhouse’s Game of the Week.

—My man Sam talks to the U of L soccer team about their exciting NCAA tournament win over San Francisco last Sunday.

—Suddenly, Vanderbilt is the recruiting king of college basketball.

—Chip Kelly is probably going to be the next head football coach at Florida. Maybe. He’s still looking.

—Athlon likes Louisville over Kentucky by a couple scores on Saturday.

Final Analysis

This one should have a lot of juice behind it, as the Wildcats have a chance to beat Louisville two times in a row for the first time since winning four straight from 2007-10. Louisville's defense has made some nice strides since an awful start to the year for defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon's group. Expect the ascension on that side of the ball to continue, while Jackson puts the cherry on top of another incredible season.

Prediction: Louisville 38, Kentucky 24

—Jax Levitch, David’s little brother, is a starter for Fort Wayne who will get to face Kentucky at Rupp Arena tonight at 8. He’s excited.

—Not bad for the man’s second game back.

—And finally, R&R is at the Sports & Social Club on Fourth Street today from 3-6 talking today’s bball news, the SIU win, and Saturday’s game against Kentucky. John L. Smith will join us at 5. Listen here. Go Lions.