The Duke basketball program is viewed by most as the top team in the ACC and the favorite to take home both the conference regular season and tournament titles. However, most see Louisville as the next team up, and its marquee victory over Kentucky on Tuesday night just proved how elite this group is already. The Cardinals hosted the Wildcats in the Battle of the Bluegrass at the KFC Yum! Center, and Louisville controlled for the majority of the contest. Pat Kelsey built a roster with the potential to be the best offensive team in the nation, and after watching Louisville's first matchup against elite competition, the Cardinals legitimately might have the best all-around offense college hoops has to offer.
Louisville's defeat of Kentucky just showed Duke basketball it has a major threat in the ACC
On Tuesday night. No. 12 Louisville took down No. 9 Kentucky 96-88 behind 29 points on 8-of-16 (50%) shooting from 5-star freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. Xavier transfer Ryan Conwell also added 24 points of his own.
Kelsey built his roster for the 2025-26 season around Brown, a prolific scorer who makes everyone around him better. He surrounded his 5-star guard with shooters all over the floor and a group that can play a fast-paced game. The Cards' roster is blended perfectly between standout transfers and returners who know the system already, and they seem to be gelling quickly.
Louisville tallied over 100 points in each of its first two contests of the season, but it was tough to gauge how legit that really was, as they were both buy games against South Carolina State and Jackson State. Well, it just hung 96 points on an elite Kentucky team while playing clean and efficient basketball.
The Cardinals shot 44.9% from the field while assisting on 20 of their 31 made field goals and committing just six turnovers. Louisville only shot 13-of-40 (32.5%) from three, but 58% of its shot attempts on the night came from beyond the arc. With proven shooters on the roster, once Louisville gets hot from three, it will be extremely difficult to stop.
Duke will play Louisville twice this season, and both matchups are set up to be instant classics. The Cards' elite offense against the Blue Devils' elite defense. What a treat. And with it being so early in the season, the ceiling of this Louisville offense as a whole is scarily high, and Duke will have to prepare accordingly to secure back-to-back ACC regular season and Tournament Championships.