Louisville's 'Russdiculous' keys 80-77 win vs. Kentucky

LOUISVILLE – It's a good thing Louisville coach Rick Pitino coined a term for the unpredictable nature of his two-guard, Russ Smith – because there's no other way to describe it.

So 'Russdiculous' it is, and will continue to be.

Russdiculous missed three shots in a row and turned over the ball, allowing Kentucky opportunity after opportunity to get back into the game midway through the second half Saturday.

BOX SCORE:Louisville 80, Kentucky 77

Russdiculous then followed that up with two key layups. And scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half – contributing nearly 40% of Louisville's second-half offense – in leading the No. 3 Cardinals to an 80-77 win against No. 23 Kentucky.

The only explanation for this? Insanity, his coach suggested.

"He's sedated in the asylum for most of the day," Pitino deadpanned after the game. "Today, he left his sedation at about 2 o'clock. So he's out of his freaking mind.

"There's not a player I think I've enjoyed coaching more than him."

Saturday's win was Pitino's first against Kentucky coach John Calipari since Calipari took the job in 2009. It's also Louisville's first win against Kentucky since the term Russdiculous was invented nearly a year ago.

"There may be a better team in the country, but I've got to see them," Calipari said about Louisville.

Pitino and Smith have an odd but special relationship, one that allows Smith to ask his coach for hugs or give Pitino bunny ears on national television (last season, after beating New Mexico). It also allows Pitino to yell at Smith, and Smith to listen – sometimes. And to let his coach call him a lunatic.

Told that Pitino hinted Smith was insane, how did the player react?

"Probably so," Smith said, laughing. "Probably so. You'd have to coach me to find out."

Smith's teammates say they aren't surprised by his erratic play any longer; they see Russdiculous in action during practice every day. Lately, they've seen a lot of good things -- Smith has led his team in scoring in 11 of the 13 games.

"We know what we're going to get out of Russ," point guard Peyton Siva said. "I just like to see him play hard."

Said forward Chane Behanan: "That's just what he does. … I tell him, 'Do (what you do) and let's roll.' "

The rolling was good Saturday.

"This one probably ranks as one of the top five biggest wins of my life," said Smith, who includes last season's NCAA regional final, the round of 16 and Louisville's two wins that clinched the Big East Conference championship last March.

"We know where we messed up and we know the mistakes we made, but at the end of the day it's a win," he said. "It's not a conference win, but it's a great non-conference win. It's a great win for the city. We're actually more happy for our fans than for ourselves. ... I guess revenge is the word, but it feels good beating the team that knocked you out of the Final Four."

Much of what makes Smith Russdiculous is his short-term memory.

"Even after he makes a mistake, he never gets frazzled," Pitino said.

Smith says the key is simply remaining positive, even after missing a few shots in a row or committing a bad foul.

"I know what I can do with the basketball," Smith said. "If you think too much, you're going to be indecisive. I feel like if you just act on your natural instinct, know where guys are, and if you just believe in yourself, good things are going to happen."

Smith also played a crucial role for the Cards defensively. With Siva, the two applied pressure relentlessly throughout the first three quarters of the game, forcing Kentucky ballhanders to commit some of the 19 total turnovers or frantic passes to teammates. After the game, Pitino called the Smith-Siva backcourt one of the nation's best – offensively, and especially defensively.

As expected, that pairing and the Louisville defense in general was too much for a Kentucky offense that's still struggling to find its identity.

To their credit, the Wildcats clawed their way back in the game, rallying from a 17-point second-half deficit to keep things close until the final buzzer. Much of that comeback came when Smith, Siva and Louisville center Gorgui Dieng were playing with four fouls.

"What happens to teams that live by the pressure and the denial and you get in foul trouble, it's like you let all the air out of the balloon," Pitino said. "You lose all of your intensity. We can't let that happen."

And especially not while playing defense.

"When we started getting little knickknack fouls and the soft ones, it took our aggressiveness away," Smith said. "They felt comfortable, and they made runs."

Those Kentucky scoring bursts sometimes came via Kyle Wiltjer three-pointers. Or a Willie Cauley-Stein dunk. Or an Archie Goodwin jumper. But close wasn't enough; the Wildcats never tied or had a lead in the second half. Shooting 11-for-23 from the free throw line also did not help.

"They (Louisville) deserved to win. But I didn't give our guys the chance they deserved with the way they played down the stretch," said Calipari, lamenting a timeout he failed to call down the stretch.

For Louisville, however, the offense didn't suffer even with three stars playing carefully with foul trouble. In addition to Smith's 21 points, Siva scored 19 and Behanan had 20 (including two dunks to essentially put the game away in the final minute). Dieng, whose parents traveled from Senegal to attend Saturday's game, added six points and seven rebounds in his first game back from a wrist injury.

"Last year's (Final Four) team, we did it with solely defense," Pitino said. "There are certain nights that your defense isn't going to be there and you've got to win with offense. We did it at Memphis, and that's a good thing this year.

"We've got much more offensive firepower this year."

Saturday's win was Pitino's first against Kentucky coach John Calipari since Calipari took the job in 2009. It's also Louisville's first win against Kentucky since the term Russdiculous was invented nearly a year ago.

"There may be a better team in the country, but I've got to see them," Calipari said about Louisville.

PHOTOS: How the Top 25 fared Saturday