Five things you need to know from No. 5 Kentucky’s 93-85 win over Louisville

Five things you need to know from No. 5 Kentucky’s 93-85 win over Louisville in men’s basketball at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center:

1. Lamont Butler’s personal “dream game.” In a rivalry in which Kentucky guards have a long history of dominating, Lamont Butler became the latest UK backcourt player to stamp his name on the Wildcats’ series with Louisville.

After missing UK’s previous two games due to an ankle injury, Butler returned with ferocity.

The super-senior, a transfer from San Diego State, had a career-high 33 points. The 6-foot-2, 208-pound product of Moreno Valley, California, hit all 10 of his field goal tries, six of them 3-pointers.

The performance puts Butler’s name in the UK record books along with Rodney Dent (12-for-12 vs. Morehead State in 1993-94) and Kenny Walker (11-for-11 vs. Western Kentucky in the 1986 NCAA Tournament) as Kentucky players who had attempted as many as 10 shots in a game without a miss.

Butler’s only misses came from the foul line, where he went 7-for-12.

In 32 minutes of playing time, Butler also chipped in six assists and three rebounds.

Kentucky needed Butler’s strong showing because Louisville star point guard Chucky Hepburn was also stellar.

The 6-2, 190-pound Hepburn had 26 points, five rebounds, five assists and a steal before fouling out.

2. The threes fly. Entering the game, Kentucky was averaging 28.7 3-point attempts per game; Louisville was taking an average of 31.8 treys a contest.

So it seemed likely that the all-time record for combined 3-pointers in a UK-U of L game — which was 46 (Kentucky 9-for-24, Louisville 7-for-22) in the Wildcats’ 60-58 win at Freedom Hall in 2004-05 — was in serious jeopardy.

As it turned out, the record for most treys tried in a UK-U of L showdown was obliterated.

Louisville went 14-for-39 from behind the arc, while Kentucky made 11 of 21 3-point tries. That adds up to a combined 60 attempted 3-pointers by both teams.

The 39 treys U of L attempted were also the single-game team record in the Kentucky-Louisville series, snapping the mark of 30 set by UK when the Cats shot 11-for-30 on treys in a 78-70 win over the Cards in 1993-94.

3. Oweh is the UK closer. For all of Butler’s brilliance, it was Otega Oweh who “closed out” the Cardinals.

With UK clinging to a 79-74 lead, Oweh scored eight points between the 1:58 and 43.6 seconds marks to allow the Wildcats to claim victory.

The 6-4, 215-pound junior — who has scored in double figures in all 11 Kentucky games to date — finished with 17 points.

4. Cats continue to dominate the Cards. The coaches might have been new, but the outcome between Kentucky and Louisville was very familiar.

UK now leads the all-time series with U of L 40-17.

In the modern rivalry (since 1982-83), Kentucky now holds a 31-14 edge over Louisville.

The Wildcats have now beaten the Cardinals in 10 of the past 12 meetings and 17 of the last 22.

George W. Bush was winding down in the White House the last time U of L beat UK at Rupp Arena, an 89-75 victory for Rick Pitino’s Cardinals over Billy Gillispie’s first Wildcats team on Jan. 5, 2008.

5. Modern series UK-U of L coaching records. Since Kentucky and Louisville resumed playing each other starting with the 1982-83 NCAA Tournament, these are the coaching records in the series:

Kentucky: Joe B. Hall 2-2, Eddie Sutton 3-1, Rick Pitino 6-2, Tubby Smith 6-4, Billy Gillispie 0-2, John Calipari 13-3, Mark Pope 1-0.

Louisville: Denny Crum 7-13, Rick Pitino 6-12, David Padgett 0-1, Chris Mack 1-2, Kenny Payne 0-2, Pat Kelsey 0-1.

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