Brandon Knight continued his stellar freshman play, pouring in 25 points to go with Josh Harrellson's 23 and a stifling Kentucky defense that lifted the No. 12 Wildcats to a 78-63 win over 20th-ranked Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center.

Knight, who upped his scoring average to 18.0, sparked the Wildcats with 12 first-half points, leading UK to an 11-point halftime lead. Kentucky (11-2) stretched it to as much as 44-26 on Harrellson's 3-pointer with 15:57 remaining.

Preston Knowles' 22 points and Chris Smith's 15 paced the Cardinals (11-2), who entered Friday's game off three straight romps, including outputs of 114 and 104 points in wins over Western Kentucky and Morgan State, respectively.

The Wildcats were also coming off three blowout victories, including a 91-61 rout over Coppin State on Tuesday; they face Penn on Monday before starting SEC play at Georgia on Jan. 8.

Louisville played without forward Rakeem Buckles, who fractured a finger in his non-shooting hand during practice this week.