When David Padgett suffered a broken right kneecap on Nov. 18, it appeared as though his season and career was over.

Louisville even looked into the possibility of getting him a medical redshirt year since he had only played two games, but it didn't look promising since he was in his fifth season overall after transferring in from Kansas.

Padgett was slated to bend his knee for the first time six weeks after the injury. Three weeks of rehab was scheduled.

"After six weeks, he went to the trainer, bent his knee and said, 'I'm going to play,'" Louisville coach Rick Pitino said.

Padgett celebrated the New Year with a 26-minute effort in a loss to Cincinnati on Jan. 1. He also had 17 points and 10 rebounds in a win against Marquette last week.

Pitino said that he's not upset about the road loss against Seton Hall. His team played well, but Seton Hall shot 46 percent from long distance - including many of the NBA variety.

He's more concerned with the upcoming schedule that is loaded with elite teams - many on the road. After tonight's game at South Florida and a home game against St. John's, Pitino will go on the road to UConn and Marquette and play Georgetown at home in three of the next four games.

The Cardinals are 13-5 overall and 3-2 in Big East play.

"Padgett and (Juan) Palacios coming back isn't just adding two players, its adding two seniors," Pitino said. "We're a different team without Padgett. He's our best leader."

WILDCATS BUYING IN?

No one expected this.

Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie got a much-needed win over No. 3 Tennessee at Rupp Arena last night, which shows one of two things:

1) Gillispie's players have finally bought into his philosophy.

2) The excuse that Tubby Smith didn't leave enough talent to compete in the SEC isn't valid.
Rupp has finally become a homecourt advantage for the Wildcats, who lost to Gardner-Webb and San Diego on their home floor earlier this season. Kentucky has knocked off a pair of ranked teams in the last 10 days - Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

Freshman big man Patrick Patterson finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, but it was the contribution of Perry Stevenson (14 points, 7 boards) off the bench that might have been the difference.

MARSHALL LOSES TOP PLAYER

This isn't exactly the way first-year Marshall coach Donnie Jones anticipated facing in-state rival West Virginia.

The Thundering Herd (10-6, 2-2 C-USA) will be without junior forward Markel Humphrey due to a hairline fracture of his heal.

"We put him in a boot," Jones said. "It's really a pain-tolerable injury. He could be out for the season or he could be back next week."

Humphrey (14.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg) won't practice the rest of the season and Jones isn't counting on him playing for the remainder of the year, either.

RANDOM NOTES: I completely forgot to report that ex-UConn wing Marcus Johnson was in the USC offices last week when I was out at the Galen Center on Friday. Johnson will not be attending Oregon State and will instead walk-on and play for Tim Floyd and the Trojans. ... UAB will be without Walter Sharpe (academics) for the rest of the season. ... Tennessee's Chris Lofton became the SEC's all-time leader in 3-pointers after making a handful in the loss to Kentucky. ... Drake's leading scorer Josh Young returned from missing three games with a sprained ankle and hit a key 3-pointer in overtime to give the Bulldogs another conference win - this one on the road against Creighton. Drake, which cracked the national rankings for the first time in 33 years, is 17-1 overall and 8-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play. ... Virginia Tech gave coach Seth Greenberg an extension through 2012-13.