Mark Pope showers praise on 22-year-old Kentucky star Lamont Butler for "all time" performance vs Louisville
Kentucky coach Mark Pope hailed Kentucky guard Lamont Butler for delivering an incredible performance in the Wildcats' 93–85 victory over Louisville on Saturday. The San Diego State transfer came up with 33 points on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting from the field, including 6 of 6 from the 3-point line.
In a post-game interview, Pope described the 22-year-old player's performance as incredible and could rank as an all-time best performance of a player in the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry.
"Lamont Butler just gave us one of the all-time performances in the history of this super special game," Pope said.
“All-time. The numbers back it up. The way he came into it backs it up… I’m so proud of him,” he said.
Butler played after an 11-day break due to an ankle issue and he looked fresh and recharged. His playing time was a season-high 32 minutes. He made three rebounds and six assists.
The Kentucky guard's 33 points was one point off the all-time Kentucky-Louisville series scoring record set by Derrick Miller on Dec. 30, 1989. It was the third-best shooting performance in school history, tying Justin Edwards' 10-of-10 shooting against Alabama on Feb. 4.
The all-time leader was Rodney Dent, who made 12 of 12 against Morehead State on December 17, 1993. Kenny Walker's 11 of 11 against Western Kentucky on March 16, 1986, was the runner-up.
Lamont Butler motivated to put up a show for Kentucky after 11-day absence
Lamont Butler admitted it was tough to be out for 11 days as he misses playing basketball. Once inserted into the starting lineup, Butler played more than expected of him, playing for 32 minutes and scoring 33 points despite coming off an injury.
"Tonight, I was just out there playing," Butler said per On3. "At that point, I said forget the ankle. My adrenaline was running. I just wanted to be out there trying to win. I just tried to make winning plays.”
Butler's perfect shooting made his field goal percentage reach 60.8%, including a 48.1% clip from 3-pointers. Butler is averaging a career-high in points, scoring 15.1 points per game. He also has career numbers in rebounds (3.1 per game) and assists (4.1 per game).
Kentucky hopes to win its 11th win in 12 games next Saturday against Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
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