Young Kentucky Will Be Tested in Hostile Environment vs. Archrival Louisville

Kentucky has played games this season in Brooklyn, the Bahamas and Las Vegas in front of crowds of all sizes. But no matter where they play or who they face, one thing has been constant: Big Blue Nation has had a major presence in the stands.  

When sixth-ranked Kentucky (10-1) renews its rivalry against No. 10 Louisville (10-1), the Wildcats won't have the crowd advantage for the first time this season. 

And hot off Saturday's epic 103-100 win over North Carolina in Vegas, Kentucky will be tackling one of its most consistent hurdles: that first true road game. 

It's the 50th meeting between the in-state rivals but the first for Kentucky's latest batch of freshman phenoms, who in their short careers have already been a part of several notable games but always in front of a favorable crowd. This young team has fed off that support and the newcomers have thrived in it, with one leading the team in scoring in 10 of the 11 contests.

The last time it was guard Malik Monk, who set a school freshman scoring record with 47 against UNC. Monk was also the top scorer in Kentucky's win over Michigan State in the Champions Classic in New York City and the Dec. 3 home loss to UCLA, the only time this season the Wildcats weren't the best team on the court.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Monk, guard De'Aaron Fox and forwards Bam Adebayo and Wenyen Gabriel combined for 64 points in that game. They accounted for 88 of Kentucky's 103 points against UNC and for the season are providing 59.8 percent of the scoring, 49.4 percent of the rebounds and 59.4 percent of the assists.

Compare that to Louisville, which has only one freshman (wing V.J. King) in its main playing rotation. The Cardinals start a senior, two juniors and two sophomores. That's a much younger team than a year ago when coach Rick Pitino started a pair of graduate transfers, but still more experience than what Kentucky can call on.

It's not collective game action that matters as much as how Kentucky's young group handles the highs and lows that come with being part of such a high-profile program. That includes being able to handle a hostile atmosphere, likely one of the few the Wildcats will face in 2016-17 as most of their SEC road games will still feature plenty of fans cheering for them.

Season	Road Record	First Road Game Outcome
2009-10	7-2	Won 90-73 at Indiana
2010-11	3-7	Lost 75-73 at Kentucky
2011-12	8-1	Lost 73-72 at Indiana
2012-13	4-8	Lost 64-50 at Notre Dame
2013-14	5-5	Lost 82-77 at North Carolina
2014-15	10-0	Won 58-50 at Louisville
2015-16	4-7	Lost 87-77 at UCLA

The first true road game has been a bit troublesome for recent Kentucky teams. Because of coach John Calipari's propensity for one-and-done players, these games end up being the first road test for a bulk of his rotation each season. The Wildcats are 2-5 in road openers under Calipari, winning at Indiana in 2009 and Louisville in 2014.

Though it was at a neutral site and a good portion of the 19,298 fans at T-Mobile Arena were cheering for them, the Wildcats can use how they handled Saturday's win over UNC as a springboard for the Louisville contest. They won the rebounding battle, even without Adebayo, who only played 19 minutes and fouled out for the first time in his career, and despite blowing a 10-point second-half lead.

Another aspect of handling adversity means being prepared to deal with an opposing style of play that is geared toward taking away one of Kentucky's best weapons: the fast break.

Kentucky has outscored its foes 155-49 in transition, using its tremendous athleticism to turn a missed shot or a turnover into a quick breakout before the defense can get back. Monk, Fox and the big men all thrive in this area, but they can't expect to be able to get too many run-outs against Louisville, which allows 59.4 points per game with just 60 fast-break points yielded in 11 total contests. Ten of those came in the Cardinals' lone loss to Baylor in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.

"The pace of the game—the faster it is, the better it is for Kentucky," ESPN's Seth Greenberg said, per Jeff Greer of the Courier-Journal.

Only two of Louisville's foes have shot better than 38 percent, and at home, it's holding opponents to 32.9 percent shooting. The Cardinals are going to force Kentucky into a half-court game that hasn't been its forte. Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore cited this as a key issue in Kentucky's loss to UCLA, but perhaps the Wildcats have learned in that area, as they had only eight fast-break points and relied on more set plays to beat UNC.

Low-scoring games aren't Kentucky's strong suit. It is 20-18 since 2011 when scoring 65 or fewer points, but that only happened once last season (a 74-62 loss at Vanderbilt in February) and this team's added athleticism and scoring ability will make it difficult to limit its impact on the scoreboard. It's not impossible, though, especially considering Louisville is a Top 10 school with a hostile crowd and is Kentucky's archrival.

These are the kinds of games Calipari craves to test his young team so that later in the season they're steeled against any and all situations. How they deal with such a unique scenario can pay major dividends later on in the 2016-17 season.

All statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information courtesy of Scout.com, unless otherwise noted.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.