Western Kentucky senior George Fant walks off the court with his team Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014, after their game against the University of Louisville at E.A. Diddle Arena. (Miranda Pederson/Daily News)

The four-year basketball series between Western Kentucky and Louisville ends next season at the Cardinals’ KFC Yum! Center.

Will the teams agree to another contract after 2015? 

Sitting at the podium Saturday after WKU’s 76-67 home loss to the fourth-ranked Cards, Hilltopper freshman guard DJ Clayton provided a decisive answer.

“I want to keep going at them,” Clayton said. “We can win against them.”

Clayton and the Tops will get that chance next season on the road, but it’s murky beyond that.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino seemed hesitant last week to commit to renewing the series, citing the challenges of an Atlantic Coast Conference schedule.

Then there’s the matter of Saturday’s friction on the court.

The game – played in front of an over-capacity 7,598 fans at E.A. Diddle Arena – featured six technicals, two dust-ups and one ejection – Louisville star junior forward Montrezl Harrell for throwing a punch at WKU freshman guard Avery Patterson late in the first half.

Harrell was suspended for one game Sunday by the ACC. Courtney Morrison-Archer, Conference USA’s associate commissioner of public affairs, told the Daily News on Sunday the league reviewed the altercation, but no discipline for WKU was announced.

“In his mind, (Harrell) was trying to protect himself so he could stand up properly,” said Louisville assistant coach Kenny Johnson, filling in postgame for Pitino, who left immediately to catch a flight to watch a recruit. “He owned up to it, and we had to fight without him.”

Harrell’s ejection stole the show Saturday. It came after a loose-ball scrum that started with him and WKU guard Brandon Price and ended with all five Hilltoppers standing over UofL’s preseason All-American.

Replays from several angles made the rounds on TV and the Internet, breaking down exactly what Harrell did to get ejected. One side angle appears to show Harrell ball his fist and throw a punch that missed Patterson’s face.

The jawing and shoving wasn’t contained to a couple of players. Clayton picked up a technical, although it’s unclear if it was for something he said or for twice making contact with Harrell. 

Pitino and WKU coach Ray Harper earned technicals for barking at each other. WKU guard T.J. Price and Louisville center Mangok Mathiang picked up technicals in the second half for an altercation going into a media timeout.

“There was a lot of emotion in this game from both teams,” Louisville sophomore guard Terry Rozier said. “It was competitive from the jump. You don’t see that.”

After all the extracurriculars, it can be difficult to remember WKU (5-5) pushed Louisville (10-0) to the limit until the final 90 seconds.

The Hilltoppers trailed by five at halftime after the wild skirmish, and they got within two early in the second half. But each time they moved within striking distance, they either allowed the Cardinals a crucial bucket or suffered a costly turnover.

“Energy-wise, we played good,” T.J. Price said. “We weren’t always smart with the ball. We had a couple careless turnovers, but it was there.”

And then there’s the matter of free throws.

The Tops seemed to turn a corner at the charity stripe Dec. 13 in the second half at Ole Miss. They made 26 of 32 tries in that road win, including 15 of 15 in the second half.

But then they made just 15 of 25 free throws Saturday and missed eight in the second half. Conversely, Louisville hit 26 of 30 from the line.

There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to WKU’s free-throw woes, although it’s markedly better away from Diddle Arena. The Tops are shooting 61.7 percent on 120 attempts from the line in five games at home and 74 percent on 100 attempts in five away games.

“We’ve got to get in the gym, and if you’re not shooting free throws like you need to, then get in there and shoot some more,” Harper said. “That’s what we’ve been doing. We’re coming off a game a couple games ago at Ole Miss where we were 15-for-15 in the second half, so if you can figure it out, help me out because it just varies from game to game.”

The Tops have a week off before returning to action. They go from the emotional high of hosting a top-five opponent to back-to-back games against NAIA competition, starting at 7 p.m. Saturday against Brescia.

Before the Louisville crowd of 7,598, WKU averaged 4,123 fans over its first four home games against Austin Peay, Belmont, Bowling Green State and Chicago State.

Assistant coach Shawn Forrest took to Twitter on Saturday night to thank fans for packing Diddle Arena, but he also asked them to not stop there – citing Wichita State as an example.

“No matter who they play, Wichita State’s arena is sold out,” Forrest tweeted. “If we can get Diddle to have that same crowd we had today every game … we will have the best home court advantage in the country and we won’t lose again this year in Diddle.”

— Follow Assistant Sports Editor Zach Greenwell on Twitter at twitter.com/zach_greenwell or visit bgdailynews.com.