The Kentucky-Louisville basketball rivalry of recent years has been a far cry of the golden eras of the rivalry that included John Calipari-Rick Pitino and Joe B. Hall-Denny Crum, however, it may be headed back in that direction.

Last month, reports surfaced of Mark Pope and Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey getting into a verbal altercation outside of a recruits home. Now, just days away from this year’s chapter in the series, Louisville players are being open about their distain of the Wildcats.

Following the Cardinals’ win over Jackson State, ranked 274th in KenPom, Kasean Pryor had some choice words for Kentucky and may have provided some extra motivation ahead of Tuesday’s matchup in the Yum! Center.

“We’ll see you guys Tuesday,” Pryor said to the media as he was leaving the press conference. “After a win. Fuck them (Kentucky).”

Pryor returned to court for the first time since tearing his ACL last November, just in time for the rivalry, which is a deadline he set for himself.

“My deadline was to be back before Kentucky, so I could play against them,” Pryor said. “They’re a good team. We’re going to be prepared for them. We’re going to handle business.”

Talk is cheap. Let’s see what happens on the court on Tuesday night.

You could hear a pen drop in Rupp Arena when Trent Noah went down with an ankle injury in the first half of Kentucky’s season opener. While he didn’t return to the game, it wasn’t his decision, as he had attempted to.

“One of the assistants came up to me at the end of the first half or the beginning of the second half and said, ‘Trent’s good to go,’” Pope said after Kentucky’s win over Nicholls. I was like, ‘That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.’ So I walked down the sideline to Brandon Wells, and I’m like, ‘Brandon, is he ready to go?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, we just tested him. He cut, he ran, he said he’s feeling fine’. And my direct quote was like, ‘Well, Trent Noah is a liar.’

While Trent Noah might have lied about his pain, Mark Pope loves to coach players with that kind of will to stay in the game despite injury.

“I would kill to have a roster full of guys like this, but he’s never going to tell you that he is in pain,” Pope said of Noah. “It’s a gift to coach guys like that. I love when you coach a guy that you have to pull him off the floor. That’s incredible.”

As far as the injury goes, Noah suffered a mild ankle sprain. He has been out of practice, but Mark Pope expects him back soon.

“I expect he’s going to be back soon,” Pope said. “I don’t know if he will be available tomorrow. It’s probably a toss-up whether he will be or not. I’m leaning toward saving him and getting him healthy. “

Noah’s improvement has been a well-documented highlight of the summer. While this injury is a setback, Mark Pope is a big believer in Noah and his role for this team, comparing him to Koby Brea and the role he had last season.

“In his year and a couple of months here, he has been one of our best ball-protection guys. Been one of our elite-level shooters. He’s a good decision maker. He plays the way we play, he makes the decisions we try to make… He really brought us some peace on the court.”

The injury bug has come early this year for the Kentucky Wildcats, but good news is here on starting point guard Jaland Lowe.

In his press conference on Thursday, previewing Kentucky’s matchup against Valparaiso, Mark Pope had a promising update on the junior guard.

“I think so,” Pope said when asked if Lowe would make his debut on Friday. “He will have a full practice today. He’s been really good in practice the last couple of days. I hope so.’

Lowe has been out with a right shoulder injury since October 17th, when he collided with Otega Oweh in the annual Blue-White exhibition. Lowe returned to practice last week, participating in non-contact drills. This week, he was elevated to participate in contact drills, still wearing a compression sleeve over his shoulder.

While not on the court, Lowe has still been making an impact as a leader. Through Kentucky’s preseason exhibition games and season opener, Lowe often pulled players aside to give them advice or instruct them on how to operate in the offense, holding his teammates accountable.

“He’s not afraid to hold a teammate accountable,” Pope said of Lowe. “Even if the teammate gets mad at him and goes to the locker room like, ‘Man, that guy’s a jerk.’ He’s not afraid of that. I think that the seeds of that are inside of him, and we have to help him grow that. It’s really important. It’s really, really important.”

Fortunately, Lowe is now cleared to make his impact on the court and make his debut on Friday against Valparaiso, and barring a setback, will be ready to go against Louisville on Tuesday.