Mark Pope knows all about the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry. The UK head coach played against the Cardinals twice in his career, so he has seen these games from the trenches.

Pope will be the only person on the UK bench with any experience in the rivalry as the Cats and the Cards meet on Saturday at Rupp Arena (5:15 ET, ESPN).

Pope’s Cats beat the Cards once during his playing career. In 1995, Kentucky used a big second half, and 30 points from Tony Delk, to beat Louisville 89-66 at Rupp Arena. Pope had two points and three rebounds for UK.

The other time Pope played against Louisville, it was the Cards coming up with an 88-86 win at Freedom Hall. Pope had nine points and 10 rebounds in that game.

Pope knows that rivalries, especially within the borders of a particular stats, are special.

“In state games are always great,” Pope said. “The rules go out the window and the stats and the analytics go out the window and it’s just different. It’s just a brawl. The games are so fun and they’re so intense and it means so much. It’s really special that way. It’s a great thing. We’re really blessed to be part of it. And it matters. It matters. And so we’re excited.”

Louisville is also under the direction of a new head coach, Pat Kelsey. The Cards are 6-4 this season, with impressive wins over West Virginia and Indiana. Pope knows that Louisville can be very dangerous.

“Terrific team. They’ve had some huge wins,” Pope said. “They can be really disruptive. They are really aggressive. Chucky (Hepburn) is playing at an elite level. They’re a terrific team with a massive upside.”

Kentucky has won five of the last six meetings against Louisville and the Cats lead the all-time series with the Cards 39-17. Louisville has not won in Lexington since 2008. Last year, Kentucky jumped early, building a 20-point lead on its way to a 95-76 victory in the Derby City. Antonio Reeves led all scorers with 30 points, while Tre Mitchell had 18 points and 12 rebounds.