In a clash of two of the most prestigious programs in the history of college basketball saw La Familia (Kentucky) versus The Ville (Louisville) in a jammed packed incredibly loud Freedom Hall in the heart of Louisville. The University of Louisville played its home games here from 1956 to 2010 before moving into its modern arena in downtown Louisville The KFC YUM! Center. Freedom Hall set a TBT record with 13,509 people in the iconic rivalry game featuring Louisville greats like Russ Smith and Peyton Siva, two NCAA National Champions from Louisville’s 2013 title team that had the title vacated in the Rick Pitino scandal by the NCAA. With La Familia featuring the Harrison twins (Aaron and Andrew) and Willie Cauley-Stein, all three played on one of the greatest teams in college basketball history that finished 38 and 1 and lost in the Final Four in 2015.

The game started at a frantic pace for La Familia in the opening minutes jumping out to a 16 to 10 lead at the end of the first quarter but that wasn’t the only thing that happened in the opening 9 minutes of play, Andrew Harrison of La Familia and Chris Jones of The Ville entered a head butting match that lead with a double technical foul.

The second quarter was lead by The Ville 17 to 14 that saw big man Montrezl Harrell working around the basket to help cut the lead going into halftime 30 to 27. La Familia only up three was lead by Willie Cauley-Stein, 9 points on 3 of 3 from behind the arc, which seemed to be the gameplan for The Ville to allow Cauley-Stein to shoot from deep, said Russ Smith following the game.

After the break La Familia started to get hot, led by Nate Sestina who hit 5 of 7 three’s and Cauley-Stein going 3-3 from the field adding 6 points to give La Familia a 26 to 11 advantage going into the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw a scoring drought, play was sloppy and somewhat stagnant. Heading into the Elam Ending the score was 62 to 53 with the target score being set at 70. The drought continued with teams shooting a combined 4 of 21 from the field (19%). As the points wound down everyone knew a Harrison was going for the dagger. Andrew Harrison from the right wing caught it a splashed home a three to give La Familia the win over The Ville.

This wouldn’t be the last activity of the night, Nate Sestina who lead La Familia in points with 22 on 6 of 14 shots from three, put the iconic L’s down in front of The Ville big man Chinanu Onuaku who retaliated by spitting in Sestina’s face, players began jawing and pushing and shoving ensued with La Familia big Daniel Orton coming the rescue in defense of his teammates. Once the dust settled, La Familia was gifted the plaque which sends them to the next round of TBT play in Philadelphia, PA.

The semi-final game in Philadelphia, PA will be on August the 2nd as they take on Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State) at 9 PM on FS1 to try to punch there ticket to the championship game for the grand prize of 1 million dollars.

La Familia took down Herd That (Marshall) inside Rupp Arena 95 to 66 in a game that was never really close. Herd That featured guys like DeAndre Kane (Iowa State and Marshall), and JaCorey Williams (Arkansas and Middle Tennessee State). Kane and Williams finished with a combined 23 points in there loss to La Familia.

La Familia had a solid start to the game, but Eric Bledsoe started cooking and ended up with 24 points on 8 of 16 shooting for 50%. Another dominating game for big man Karem Kanter as he ended with 20 points and 8 rebounds, Kanter is averaging 22.3 points per game in 3 games and is 10th in all of TBT in that statistic.

La Familia later ran away with it in the second half heading into the Elam Ending in which former Kentucky player James Young sealed the deal with a right wing fall away three to give La Familia the 95 to 66 win.

The time and date have not been set for La Familia’s Quarterfinal matchup which could see them taking on Team DRC or The Ville. If The Ville wins versus Team DRC they will host the matchup at Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY but a Team DRC win would make Rupp Arena the site for the Quarterfinal. All games are featured on the Fox network make sure you stay tuned to all scheduling updates and times.

Game two was an exciting thriller as team La Familia took down The Nawf 81 to 64 inside Rupp Arena in round two of TBT play and moves one step closer to one million dollars. The Nawf lead by Derek St. Hilaire (University of New Orleans & Jacksonville State), and Roberto Gallinat (Pacific) who combined for a total of 21 points as The Nawf’s leading scores.

The former Cats got off to a slow start and were down as many as 8 points with 7 minutes left in the second quarter but quickly pulled away to a large lead with the bigs leading the way. Kerem Kanter (Xavier) brother of Enes Kanter now know as Enes Freedom, leading the way with a whopping 26 points and 9 rebounds as a unstoppable force down low all game long. Former 2015 National Defensive Player of the Year and First team All-American Willie Cauley-Stein was in his old days finishing with 7 blocks to go along with 8 points and 7 rebounds. La Familia led the rest of the way on cruise control to win 81 to 64 on a 3 pointer by Kanter who also takes home $1,000 while making the game winner wearing Puma sneakers during the Elam Ending.

La Familia will head back to Rupp Arena on Tuesday taking on Herd That (Marshall) at 9 PM on FS1 looking to clinch a Elite Eight bid. Everyone needs to show up at Rupp and be loud, the attendance totals could be important and the tie breaker for hosting purposes of the next game site if Louisvie advances out of their region.

The first round of the Lexington TBT Region was a major win for the Cats. La Familia is lead by former Kentucky players with the likes of Willie Cauley-Stein, Eric Bledsoe, Kellan Grady, and several others. La Familia matched up against the 305 Ballers a Miami, Florida based team with former college players like Isaiah Reese (Canisius), CJ Bryce (NC State), and others.

The former Cats got off to a fast start in front of a large lower bowl crowd at Rupp Arena, with a 44-30 lead going into half time where former Kentucky guard, and NBA draft pick Eric Bledsoe stole the show with a solid 10 points and 3 assists which lead the Cats in both categories entering the break. The second half saw much of the same as you would expect a high-powered Kentucky team. Nate Sestina got hot in the second half from three to expand La Familia’s already large lead to get the C-A-T-S cheer going. Not long after Willie Cauley-Stein brought the house down with not one but two blocks and a defensive stop.    

Who says Kentucky’s most recent player, Brennan Canada a former walk-on helped close out the game in the Elam Ending with a game winning free throw. The Elam Ending rules the clock stops at the first dead ball under 4 minutes in the 4^th quarter with 8 points being added to the higher scoring team and that becomes the target score, first one to the target wins, no clock just basketball.

La Familia will be back in action Sunday at 2 o’clock inside Rupp Arena taking on The Nawf you can catch the game on Fox if you can’t be there in person. The Cats are one step closer for a chance at 1 million dollars.

As the quiet offseason begins to start here in the early parts of May thekypress.com has revealed its Way to Early Top 15 for this upcoming College Basketball season listed down below are the rankings that will be changed Monthly.

The Way to Early Top 15

1. Kansas
2. Alabama
3. Houston
4. Indiana
5. Baylor
6. Uconn
7. Duke
8. North Carolina
9. Iowa State
10. Arizona
11. Purdue
12. North Carolina State
13. Kentucky
14. Ohio State
15. Michigan