Kentucky vs Louisville basketball MVP candidates for Round 2 of Mark Pope vs Pat Kelsey

Every time archrivals Louisville and Kentucky meet on the basketball court, someone comes through with a performance they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.

Last year, that someone was Lamont Butler — whose career-high 33 points on 10-for-10 shooting in 32 minutes (coming off a two-game absence due to an ankle injury) powered the Wildcats to a 93-85 win over the Cardinals at Rupp Arena in the first showdown between coaches Pat Kelsey and Mark Pope.

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“The ball got in the air, and it was, like, touched by God,” Kelsey said afterward. “That thing was going in.”

“This is one of my top performances, for sure,” Butler added. “For it to happen in a rivalry game, with this big atmosphere at Kentucky, is definitely special.”

This year, the rivalry returns to the KFC Yum! Center (8 p.m. Nov. 11) for what will be the earliest installment of U of L vs. UK across 58 games dating back to 1913.

Louisville is searching for its first win in the series since Dec. 26, 2020. Carlik Jones and David Johnson shared the Bluegrass Sports Commission’s Most Valuable Player award that day after they combined for 37 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to help the Cards snap a three-game losing streak to the Cats. Before them, the last U of L player to earn the coveted belt was Quentin Snider, whose career-high 22 points in a 73-70 victory on Dec. 21, 2016, has stood the test of time as one of the best moments in the program’s 15 years of hooping at Second and Main.

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That brings us to the subject of this story: predicting who will be the MVP of Round 2 between Kelsey and Pope.

Sometimes, it’s the star (see: Russ Smith in 2012 or Tyler Ulis in 2015). Sometimes, it’s a surprise (see: Josh Harrellson in 2010 or Snider in 2016). The possibilities are seemingly endless this go-around, because both teams will have only two regular-season games under their belts when the ball is tipped.

Courier Journal reporters Brooks Holton (Louisville) and Ryan Black (Kentucky) teamed up to offer two Cards and two Cats who could etch their name into the rivalry’s lore:

Ryan Conwell

Ryan Conwell loves the big stage. In March, the 6-foot-4 guard scored a career-high 38 points on 13-for-18 shooting (7 for 11 from 3) for Xavier in an 89-87 loss to Marquette in the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. He’s also no stranger to this rivalry; his father’s side of the family hails from Louisville. Between these intangibles and the cold hard facts — Conwell was one of only two high-major players who made 90 or more 3s and 100 or more free throws while shooting 50% or better from 2-point range in 2024-25 — the Indianapolis native is poised to be not only the breakout star of this year’s U of L/UK game but also the most reliable member of Kelsey’s Year 2 roster. — Holton

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Otega Oweh

Is making Otega Oweh one of UK’s picks here a bit of a cop-out? Sure. It’s always easy to select the player who just so happens to be the Cats’ leading returning scorer. But that’s part of the point: Time and time again last season, Oweh delivered. He finished with a double-digit point total in 33 of his 36 appearances last season. That’s not even mentioning his knack for staying cool under pressure. Recall he had the game-winning bucket to beat his former team (Oklahoma) on two separate occasions in 2024-25 — once at his old stomping grounds in Norman, Oklahoma, then in the SEC Tournament to help Kentucky avoid yet another one-and-done showing in the event it once dominated. If that’s not enough: He already excelled against the Cards. Oweh was the Cats’ second-leading scorer in last year’s Battle of the Bluegrass, with his 17 points trailing only Butler’s 33. — Black

Mikel Brown Jr.

Kentucky has had more than its fair share of marquee freshmen leave their marks on the rivalry over the past 15 years. Could this be the game Louisville gets payback? It’s certainly going to need point guard Mikel Brown Jr. to live up to the one-and-done hype in the biggest moment of his collegiate career to date. After he forced the envelope a little too much in the Cards’ exhibition loss to Kansas, the 6-5 Orlando, Florida, native finished four points shy of the program’s single-game freshman scoring record with 28 on 8-for-11 shooting from 3 with six assists to boot in the preseason finale against Bucknell. Sure, there’s a chasm between the Jayhawks and the Bison in terms of talent; but Brown’s bounce-back performance was more about him settling into his role as the conductor of Kelsey’s up-tempo offense. If he’s composed against the Cats, he should make a strong MVP case. — Holton

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Trent Noah

If Oweh doesn’t earn MVP honors for the Cats vs. the Cards, why not Trent Noah, the home-state hero who’s the front-runner to take the title as the best sharpshooter on UK’s 2025-26 roster? And that’s how he’d bring home the MVP trophy in his second Battle of the Bluegrass appearance: by filling up the stat sheet from beyond the arc. We’re not predicting anything too outlandish, such as a run at Jodie Meeks‘ single-game school record of 10 triples. But if Noah can at least match Butler’s output of six 3s, coupled with at least five rebounds and a handful of assorted assists and a steal or block? That should be enough to force him to make room on his mantel for a new piece of hardware. — Black

Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton. Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville-Kentucky basketball top players for Pat Kelsey, Mark Pope