Louisville, Kentucky Rivalry Spat, TBT Clash

In basketball, if Louisville and Kentucky are on the court, drama will likely happen.

That was true Monday night, when La Familia, a team made up of former Kentucky players, and The Ville, a team made up of former Louisville players, ended in a near-brawl after a spitting incident.

Andrew Harrison, who helped lead Kentucky to the 2014 and 2015 Final Fours, hit the game-winning 3-pointer in La Familia’s 70-61 win (Elam last) at Freedom Hall in Louisville. The crowd of 13,506 nearly doubled the previous record (7,202) for the winner-take-all $1 million tournament.

During the celebration, La Familia’s Nate Sestina, who led all scorers with 22 points, hugged The Ville’s Chinanu Onuaku, who told Sestina to stop using the “L’s down” gesture to mock Louisville.

Onuaku, in the video of the incident, told Sestina, “Don’t do it again,” before spitting in her face.

“Emotions were high,” said Sestina, who confirmed that Onuaku spat on her. “That’s what this game does to people. It was great chatter the whole game, nothing crazy, nothing personal. And then it got personal, obviously. That’s what this game is.”

Players from both teams then began pushing and shoving each other as security officials and police officers stepped between them to avoid further tension.

Onuaku apologized on social media on Tuesday.

“I want to apologize for my actions after last night’s game,” Onuaku posted to X. “I let my passion and pride for my university overcome me momentarily. I love my UofL and I love this city.

This was the latest dustup of the rivalry.

Former Kentucky coach Eddie Sutton once called Louisville a “little brother” during an interview. In 1989, Louisville’s Boo Brewer caught Kentucky’s Sean Woods under the basket and threw him over his shoulder. And in the 2015-16 season, Rick Pitino, who won national titles at both schools, was coaching the Cardinals at Rupp Arena when he was accused of using an obscene gesture while leaving the court (which Pitino denied).

On Monday, former NBA stars were on both sides. Montrezol Harrell, who played for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2022-23, led a Louisville team that also featured Peyton Siva and Russ Smith, two stars on the 2013 national title team. La Familia included former NBA players such as Willie Cauley-Stein and Eric Bledsoe, who were on the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2018-19.

Cauley-Stein, who last played in the NBA in the 2021-22 season, said he agreed to play in the TBT because of Monday’s matchup with Louisville’s alumni team.

“This game that we just played is why I decided to play,” Cowley-Stein said. “This thing is different. I knew it was going to sell. … There’s no other feeling like it. It took 10 years to get that feeling back. I’m going to ride it for the next few days for sure.”

La Familia advanced to the quarter finals of TBT.

After the postgame shoving match, Sestina didn’t back down on her view of the rivalry.

“Come down,” he said. “Always.”