Tempers flare as La Familia beats The Ville to give UK the win in biggest TBT game ever

A college basketball rivalry was renewed in Freedom Hall on Monday night.

The final result was a familiar one to the players on the court.

La Familia defeated The Ville 70-61 in the quarterfinals of The Basketball Tournament — better known as TBT — to give a group of former University of Kentucky players a victory over a team of ex-Louisville Cardinals in the $1 million summer tournament.

Nate Sestina had a huge third quarter for the former Cats, leading La Familia with 22 points and adding eight rebounds for the winning side. Willie Cauley-Stein added 20 points and team highs of nine rebounds and four steals, while Andrew Harrison hit big shots down the stretch for the former Kentucky players.

Russ Smith led The Ville with 22 points, and Chinanu Onuaku chipped in with 14 points and a game-high 22 rebounds.

The game obliterated the previous attendance record for the TBT, which is in its 11th year.

The largest TBT crowd before Monday night was 7,202, achieved in Wichita last year. Ticket sales for Monday’s game exceeded that number in the first hour of sales last week, and the official Freedom Hall attendance Monday was announced at 13,506 fans.

FS1 announcer John Fanta referred to the matchup as “the biggest game in the history” of the TBT to open the national TV broadcast. TBT co-owner Chris Paul — one of the greatest point guards in NBA history — was among those in attendance for the spectacle.

“Man, it’s crazy in here,” Paul said on the broadcast. “The scene when Louisville ran out for warmups, and then to watch Kentucky come out — you get a chance to see the energy. And it’s just great. I mean, basketball is this amazing connector. And you see how The Basketball Tournament continues to grow. And we’re just grateful for these fans and, most of all, these players who come out here and compete.”

Both teams struggled to hit shots in the early going, but La Familia jumped out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter — thanks in part to three 3-pointers from Cauley-Stein, who never attempted a long-range shot in three seasons at Kentucky — before The Ville went on a run of its own. The former UK players led 30-27 at halftime.

Sestina set the ex-Cats apart in the third quarter.

At one point in the period, Sestina hit three consecutive 3-pointers — giving him a total of five long-range makes in the third quarter alone — to push La Familia to a 53-34 advantage and dim the hopes of the former Louisville players.

The Ville cut into that lead in the fourth quarter, but Andrew Harrison helped the Wildcats put it away in the end. Harrison missed his first five shots from the field before making a 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter to give La Familia a 62-51 lead.

The Elam Ending — a scoring system used to prevent late fouls and ensure a game ends on a made basket instead of an expiring clock — was initiated just after that shot. Harrison hit another jumper down the stretch before finishing off The Ville with a 3-pointer to set the final score.

Harrison sprinted down the floor while several La Familia team members rushed the Freedom Hall court with the “Ls down” hand signal — a gesture used to mock U of L — and players from both teams had to be separated by uniformed security guards in a chaotic aftermath to the game.

Once all of The Ville players were off the court, La Familia resumed its celebration.

Sestina told reporters afterward that Onuaku spit on him following a disagreement over the “Ls Down” celebration by Kentucky’s players. Onuaku did not participate in interviews after the game, and video from on the court appeared to back up Sestina’s claim.

“Emotions ran high. That’s what this game does to people,” Sestina said. “It had been great chatter the whole game. Nothing crazy. Nothing personal. And then it got personal. Obviously, Ls down versus Ls up, that’s what this game is. He was just like, ‘Don’t do Ls down in here.’ I was just like, ‘All right. Ls down, always.’ And then he walked away, and then stepped at me. My back was turned. And then he spit in my face.”

The postgame fracas was the final chapter in a heated contest that was to be expected under the circumstances of the college basketball rivalry.

Harrison and former Louisville player Chris Jones received matching technical fouls after they got into it late in the first quarter. Jones rammed his head into the chest of Harrison, who shoved the ex-Card away — the most serious altercation in a game that was filled with trash talk between the two sides.

Of the nine former UK players on the La Familia roster, only one played in a loss to U of L while in college.

Aaron and Andrew Harrison were both 3-0 against the Cardinals, including a win in the Sweet 16 on the Wildcats’ way to the 2014 national title game. Eric Bledsoe, Brennan Canada, Kellan Grady, Daniel Orton, James Young and Sestina all won in their only appearance against Louisville.

The lone UK player on the losing end of the rivalry was Cauley-Stein, who dropped his first game against the Cards — during his freshman year, the season the Cats missed the 2013 NCAA Tournament — before winning the next three meetings against Louisville, including that game in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

That history underscores the level of dominance that Kentucky enjoyed over its in-state rival during John Calipari’s tenure as head coach. Calipari left Lexington with a 13-3 record against the Cards, including a victory in the 2012 Final Four, two days before he won his only title in 15 years with the program. He coached all nine La Familia players in college.

Calipari posted on X that he was tuning in for the game Monday night.

“Watched the game and it brought back great memories!” the current Arkansas coach said in a post. “I wish them well this weekend!! Go win it men!!!”

Former UK point guard Tyler Ulis , who was 2-0 against Louisville as a player and spent the past two seasons as a student assistant on Calipari’s staff, improved to 4-0 as the head coach of La Familia.

Obviously, The Ville players did not fare well against the Cats as collegians.

Six ex-Cards played against La Familia on Monday night, and they were around for just two victories over Kentucky while in college.

Montrezl Harrell, Peyton Siva and Smith were all on the 2012-13 Louisville team that beat the Wildcats (and later won the NCAA title). All of those players had losing records against UK, however, with Smith going 1-5 and coming out on the losing end in both the 2012 and 2014 NCAA tournament meetings.

David Johnson was 1-1 against Kentucky — the victory coming in the COVID-19-impacted 2020-21 season — and Jones (0-3) and Onuaku (0-2) were both winless in the rivalry.

A total of 13 games in the UK-U of L rivalry were played in Freedom Hall before the Cards moved to the Yum Center in 2010. Kentucky had a 7-6 record in those games.

Current members of the UK basketball team traveled to Louisville on Monday night to support La Familia, which practiced against the 2024-25 Wildcats twice earlier in the month. Mark Pope’s Cats will meet new Louisville coach Pat Kelsey’s Cards on Dec. 14 in Rupp Arena.

La Familia will play Carmen’s Crew — a team featuring former Ohio State players, among others — in the TBT semifinals in Philadelphia on Friday night, with that matchup airing on FS1. The championship game will be played at 2 p.m. Sunday and will be shown live on Fox.

The winner of the 64-team, single-elimination tournament will split a $1 million prize among its members, and La Familia is now two victories away from claiming that purse.

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