Heading into Saturday’s rivalry game in Rupp Arena, Louisville Basketball is historically bad with only two wins all season, against Western Kentucky and Florida A&M in back-to-back victories in mid-December. The Cards failed to win or cover the point spread in the other 11 games to date, ranking 334th nationally in scoring margin and 345th in the new NET rankings, which has some UofL fans already calling for Payne’s job before January of Payne’s first season at his alma mater.
But John Calipari won’t let facts get in the way of defending an old friend and on Friday he made a point to speak highly of his former assistant before the two meet head-to-head for the first time as head coaches.