Having played its best 30 minutes of football so far this season in the second half against Central Michigan, Kentucky heads into its highly anticipated annual grudge match against the Louisville Cardinals 7:00 p.m. ET Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium. Joker Phillips is holding his weekly press conference early this afternoon and we will be bringing you coverage of the happenings from that. In the mean time, here are a few notes to wrap up a busy weekend:

• First of all, John Calipari and his Dominican Republic National Team finished up play in the FIBA Americas Championship, winning a bronze medal with a 103-89 victory over Puerto Rico. The medal was first in Dominican history, but the team fell just short of clinching a bid in the 2012 Olympics though it did earn a spot in a last chance qualifying tournament next summer. Calipari posted a message last night on his website to discuss the tournament and what’s next as he gets back into the swing of preparing for the college season. Here is an excerpt:

Now, what will I be doing now that this over? For the next six or seven days, I will be in homes and in schools of the recruits we’re involved with. I’ll be in Lexington for one day this week but I’ll be back on the road recruiting that night.Even though I’ve been in South America for the last few days during the contact period, I did three home visits from the speakerphone. Obviously, it’s not as effective as sitting face to face, but I wanted those young people to know that even though I was coaching a national team, they were on the forefront of my mind. We will have individual skill instruction sessions with the team Wednesday, which I’ve been thinking about for two weeks. I can’t wait to get back at it with this team that I’ll be coaching. I miss those guys, and they know that. I’ve texted and talked to them all.I’m looking forward to having another experience with another brand new team and a group of young men that are committed to each other. As long as they’ll be their brother’s keeper, we’ll have a lot of fun again this year.

• Morgan Newton and the UK offense may have gotten off to a bit of a slow start to the season, but not so for the Wildcat defense. After most of the nation has played two games, UK ranks ninth in the country in scoring defense, 10th in passing efficiency defense and tied for 10th in turnovers forced. Although the level of competition will take a step up as UK enters SEC play, the improvement that the defense has already shown in Rick Minter’s first two games as co-defensive coordinator has been extremely encouraging.

• Anchoring the defense are seniors Danny Trevathan and Winston Guy, who are first and second in the SEC in total tackles. Trevathan also is tied for fourth nationally in tackles per game while Guy is tied for 13th. Another of UK’s most consistent performers has been punter Ryan Tydlacka. The senior in 10th in the nation in yards per punt at 47.8. Tydlacka and his punt coverage unit also are fifth nationally in net punting at 46.3 yards per punt, meaning UK is allowing just 1.5 return yards per punt.

• Freshman running back Josh Clemons had a breakout game this weekend, rushing for 126 yards on just 14 carries, including an 87-yard touchdown burst to put UK ahead for good. For his efforts, Clemons was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week, so congratulations to him.

• Women’s soccer equaled its best start in school history with a pair of 2-0 wins on Friday and Sunday. Moving to 7-0-0 in 2011, Jon Lipsitz and the Wildcats defeated Louisville and Southeast Missouri to win the Tropical Smoothie Invitational hosted at the UK Soccer Complex. UK has scored at least two goals in each of its first seven matches of the season. The Wildcats have one final non-conference match on the road against Dayton on Saturday before beginning SEC play.  

• Volleyball also continued its winning ways this weekend, defeating Houston, Loyola Marymount and West Virginia en route to winning the UK Invitational. Ashley Frazier won MVP honors and Stephanie Klefot and Gretchen Giesler joined her on the all-tournament team. In three matches, UK dropped a single set, meaning the Wildcats have won 21 of 22 sets in seven straight wins since a loss to Cincinnati two weeks ago. SEC play starts for the 9-2 Cats at home this Friday against Auburn. They also face off against Georgia on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum.