Lamont Butler lifts Kentucky basketball to win over Louisville in rivalry showdown at Rupp

Posted by Admin December 15, 2024 Basketball

LEXINGTON — Lamont Butler, always and forever, will have the 2023 Final Four etched beside his name. Then starring for San Diego State, Butler sank a last-second shot against Florida Atlantic to punch a ticket to the national championship game. It’s a moment that will live on in NCAA Tournament highlight reels until the end of time.

If Butler never accomplishes anything else at Kentucky, he’ll always have Saturday.

Now at UK after transferring in from SDSU, Butler was the driving force in lifting the hosts to a 93-85 win over archrival Louisville at Rupp Arena.

A fifth-year senior point guard, Butler poured in a game- and career-high 33 points. He also dished out six assists, taking top honors in another statistical category Saturday.

But it was his shooting that took top billing for No. 5 Kentucky.

He connected on every shot from the field.

Ten for 10 overall. Six of six on 3s. The only area that kept him from a perfect shooting night was the free-throw line, where he went 7 of 12.

Butler posted his stunning stat line after sitting out the Wildcats’ past two games with an ankle injury suffered in the team’s lone loss this season: a 70-66 setback at Clemson on Dec. 3.

Butler looked no worse for the wear Saturday, though.

“This is one of my top performances, for sure,” Butler said. “For it to happen in a rivalry game, with this big atmosphere at Kentucky, is definitely special.”

It also was historic: Butler became just the fourth player in program history to make at least 10 shots without a miss, joining Rodney Dent (12 for 12 in 1993 versus Morehead), Kenny Walker (11 of 11 in a 1986 NCAA Tournament game against Western Kentucky) and Justin Edwards (10 for 10 last season versus Alabama).

Edwards was the only other member of that quartet to post a perfect percentage while also putting up shots beyond the arc. And Butler bettered Edwards in that department, sinking two more triples than his predecessor’s 4-for-4 mark earlier this year.

In addition, Butler’s outing Saturday was one of the best in the history of the Bluegrass rivalry. His 33 points are the second most a UK player has scored against U of L, just one shy of Derrick Miller, who had 34 in 1988.

“Lamont Butler just gave us one of the all-time greatest performances in the history of this super-special game,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “So, all time. The numbers back it up. … You think about when you go out and you’re trying to recruit — and our guys, our staff, is so good, and those guys identify a winner — then this is what you get from him, right?”

Few were less surprised with Butler’s performance than Pope’s counterpart, Pat Kelsey.

“Lamont Butler was magnificent,” Kelsey said. “I still see that kid in my nightmares. We played against them when I was the head coach at the College of Charleston, and he was the point guard at San Diego State. We played an epic battle in the first round (of the 2023 NCAA Tournament), and he’s just a warrior. He’s a winner.”

Despite Butler’s ankle injury, Kelsey always planned to scheme against him.

“We’re talking about whether he’s gonna play or not,” Kelsey said. “I was like, ‘That cat’s playing in this game. You can mark that one down.’ He is a stone-cold killer and a really, really good player.”

Yet for all Butler’s strengths — his superlative, stingy defense and nifty passing along with leadership borne of the winning culture he immersed himself in the past four seasons with the Aztecs — his long-range shooting never would be at the top of an opposing coach’s scouting report.

He went 3 for 3 on 3s in a win over Lipscomb last month; in the other seven games he’d appeared in this season prior to Saturday, however, he was just 4 of 18 (22.2%).

“We had these ‘dots,’ if you will, in recruiting,” Kelsey said. “And we had him, obviously, red first — he’s a driver/attacker first, and he’s a freight train and a bowling ball getting downhill, putting foul pressure and getting to the rim. We obviously knew that he was a good open, feet-set 3-point shooter.

“Obviously, we didn’t adjust fast enough, because, man, when he got looks today, the ball got in the air, it was like touched by God. That thing was going in.”

Butler credited work — hard work — for Saturday’s dazzling display of shooting from distance.

“Daily throughout the summer, fall, all that,” he said. “Tonight I was just able to hit ’em all. It felt good to hit ’em all. I just try to continue to work on it. Definitely got to continue to get better.”

While Butler was exceptional, he wasn’t flawless: He also committed three turnovers, just one off the game high.

Yet on this night, the good he did far outweighed the bad, as the the Wildcats (10-1) won in Pope’s first matchup with the Cardinals (6-5) and Kelsey, in his maiden campaign at U of L.

“Lamont’s the head of the snake, and to beat them, you’ve got to cut the head of the snake off, and it’s hard, because he’s a warrior,” Kelsey said. “He’s a disciplined player. He’s a phenomenal defender. … The best point guards, I believe, you give them the ball at 5:15 in the afternoon, and they give it back to you, safe and sound, at 7:15. And that’s what that kid did tonight.”

Even if he didn’t want to acknowledge what was happening as it unfolded in front of him.

“On like (Butler’s) sixth (made 3), Chucky (Hepburn) fell down and he was mad at himself because he kind of gambled off the ball, and the ball lands in Lamont’s hands,” Kelsey said, “and I just turned around and I stared at my staff, and I go, ‘No way this sixth one is going in.’ Bang. The crowd goes nuts. And I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ So give him credit. Tip the cap.

“He made big shots tonight, and he was the difference in the game.”

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.