Ed Reinke / AP

Kentucky's John Wall (11) and his  teammates celebrate during the No. 3 Wildcats' 71-62 victory over Louisville on Saturday.

Pitino and Calipari shook hands briefly as the horn sounded, both coaches only too happy to put one of the most anticipated meetings in the series’ long history behind them.

“This game was physical but neither team was going to give an inch,” Calipari said. “You could come out and do that bravado. It wasn’t working in this game.”

Neither was much else in 40 heated minutes that made up for in passion what it lacked in precise play.

The game was billed as the renewal of the simmering rivalry between Pitino and Calipari, one filled with plenty of subplots.

Calipari was wary of how the crowd would behave toward Pitino, who led the Wildcats to three Final Fours and a national championship in the 1990s but has become Public Enemy No. 1 while coaching the hated Cardinals.

Calipari urged fans to behave themselves, a veiled reference to Pitino’s troubled summer in which he acknowledged to having an affair six years ago with a woman later charged with trying to extort him for millions.

Security officials confiscated any signs they deemed inappropriate, though during one timeout in the first half a group in the upper deck chanted the woman’s name.

Pitino was too busy yelling at Sosa to notice and afterward laughed off the chanting as a distraction.

“I think two or three people missed me,” he said sarcastically.

Pitino didn’t miss Cousins, who dominated his matchup with Louisville center Samardo Samuels. Samuels finished with nine points and nine rebounds, turned it over three times and was muscled out of the way by Cousins.

After his early scrap, Cousins kept his emotions in check and capped the victory with a thunderous dunk with 37.2 seconds left that put the Wildcats up 68-57 as the crowd erupted.

The win matched Kentucky’s best start since 1969-70. It also kept hopes of a perfect season alive.

“It’s going to be pretty tough but I think we’ve got a chance,” Wall said.

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