[7:02 PM] #6 Kentucky @ #10 Louisville

•Who will WIN this matchup?

#6 Kentucky Wildcats (10-1)

@ #10 Louisville Cardinals (10-1)

• The line for this game is Kentucky by 1 point.

• Despite being separated by only 90 miles in a basketball-crazy state, No. 5 Kentucky and No. 11 Louisville couldn’t be much more different in their approaches. The defensive-minded Cardinals hope to end their recent struggles against their in-state rival Wednesday when they host one of college basketball’s most explosive offenses in the Wildcats.

• Monk (21.9 points) broke the Wildcats’ previous freshman scoring record by 12 points by going 18-of-28 from the field; his 47 points were the most by an SEC freshman since Chris Jackson of LSU scored 55 in 1989 and the second-highest total ever allowed by North Carolina to one player. Fellow freshman De’Aaron Fox (15.2 points, SEC-high 7.2 assists) tallied a season-high 24 points and 10 assists versus the Tar Heels; his 79 assists through 11 games are 26 more than Tyler Ulis had at the same point last season when he went on to set the school’s single-season record. Sophomore Isaiah Briscoe (15.9 points) is yet another explosive guard for Kentucky and like Monk, has scored in double figures in every game this season.

• Donovan Mitchell (11.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, ACC-high 2.5 steals) and Deng Adel (9.7 points) are arguably the Cardinals’ top two defenders and figure to draw the task of keeping Monk in check for the majority of this contest. Athletic 6-9, 230-pound forward Jaylen Johnson (9.5 points, 8.1 boards, 1.2 blocks in 21.1 minutes) was hampered by a lingering cold for most of the first part of December, but the junior has seen his playing time increase lately and is one of four Louisville players averaging at least one block. Center Mangok Mathiang (6.8 points, 7.2 rebounds) did not score in Saturday’s victory over Eastern Kentucky but tied a career high with 13 rebounds and set another with four assists while recording two blocks in only 20 minutes of action.

• Monk’s 38 3-point field goals through 11 games are ahead of Jodie Meeks’ single-season school record-setting pace through the first 11 games of the 2008-09 season.

• Louisville ranks fourth in Division I with 7.2 blocks, just ahead of fifth-place Kentucky’s 7.1.

• The Wildcats are averaging just 13.8 seconds per possession, the seventh-fastest mark in the country and best among Power-5 teams.

StreakSmarts Pick: Louisville Cardinals

Confidence: 4/10