Rick Pitino kept waiting for John Wall to lose his cool.

Moments after Louisville quieted a record Rupp Arena crowd by taking a one-point lead over No. 3 Kentucky midway through the second half on Saturday, Pitino thought for a second maybe _ just maybe _ the freshman superstar would finally blink.

Instead, Wall responded with six straight points to spark Kentucky's gritty 71-62 win over its archrival _ and win Pitino's admiration in the process.

"When a game gets a little tight like that, with the game on the line, it just shows you how great Wall is because it didn't faze him," Pitino said.

Not much does.

Not the constant jawing with Louisville players. Not the countless bumps, nudges and hits he took while trying to get down the court. Not the pressure of playing in the spotlight while trying to return the Wildcats to national prominence.

"He decided to take the game over," Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson said. "John got the ball and pushed it, blew by defenders and made several big shots."

Wall scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half as the Wildcats (15-0) matched their best start in 40 years by breaking a two-game losing streak to the Cardinals (10-4).

"I'm playing at another level I never thought I could play at," Wall said. "I always played good when I was in high school but playing for (Kentucky coach John) Calipari, he's going to take you to another level and get you better. I thought I was at the top of my potential when I was in high school. I'm nowhere near it."

It's a scary proposition for opponents, particularly after the Cardinals did their best to frustrate Wall in one of the most contentious meetings in the series' long history.

The jawing started in the tunnel well before tipoff, continued through warm-ups then really got going once the ball was in the air.

The teams combined for 51 fouls _ including five technicals _ and had to be separated on several occasions.

Kentucky's Patrick Patterson added 17 points and teammate DeMarcus Cousins posted his fourth straight double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds, though he narrowly missed being ejected 45 seconds into the game after getting tangled up with Louisville's Jared Swopshire.

The two were battling for a loose ball when Louisville's Reginald Delk pushed Cousins from behind. Cousins appeared to swing his right forearm at Swopshire's head as he tried to get up. All three players received technical fouls but none was ejected.

Cousins said it was simply the cost of doing business.

"It was intense," Cousins said. "I was just going for the ball. They tried to get physical and we got physical with them. They tried to rough us up."