Meet the Opponent: Louisville Faces Indiana in Battle 4 Atlantis

Indiana played Louisville last season, but the Cardinals’ roster was completely overhauled entering their first season under coach Pat Kelsey.

Louisville's J'Vonne Hadley (1) high fives Chucky Hepburn (24) against Morehead State at the KFC Yum! Center. / Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Indiana faces a familiar opponent Wednesday in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. But aside from the uniform, Louisville has nothing the Hoosiers will recognize from last year’s matchup.

Following a dismal 12-52 run across two seasons under former head coach Kenny Payne, which included a 74-66 loss to Indiana at Madison Square Garden, Louisville made a change. It hired Pat Kelsey from the College of Charleston, who went 75-27 over three seasons. He led Charleston to two Colonial Athletic Association regular season titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the past two seasons.

When Kelsey took over, he revamped the roster with 13 transfers and one freshman. The Cardinals are off to a 3-1 start, with a 77-55 loss to Tennessee in their lone high-major matchup. 

Tipoff between Indiana and Louisville is scheduled for noon ET Wednesday at the Imperial Ballroom in Paradise Island, Bahamas, on ESPN. The Hoosiers and Cardinals await a second-round matchup against No. 3 Gonzaga or West Virginia.

Here’s a full breakdown of Louisville.

Key returners

• G Aidan McCool: 0.5 ppg

Key newcomers

• G Reyne Smith (Charleston transfer): 14.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 42.1 3pt FG%
• F Kasean Pryor (South Florida transfer): 12.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 34.3 FG%
• G Terrence Edwards (James Madison transfer): 12.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 30.0 3pt FG%
• G Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin transfer): 10.5 ppg, 4.0 apg, 3.0 spg, 26.7 3pt FG%
• G J’Vonne Hadley (Colorado transfer): 10 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 40.0 3pt FG%
• F James Scott (Charleston transfer): 8.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 84.2 FG%
• F Noah Waterman (BYU transfer): 5.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 27.8 3pt FG%
• F Khani Rooths (No. 33 freshman): 3.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 38.5 FG%
• G Koren Johnson (Washington transfer): 3.0 ppg, 2.5 apg, 27.3 FG%
• G Aboubacar Traore (Long Beach State transfer): 1.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 16.7 FG%

Key departures

• G Skyy Clark: 13.2 ppg, 3.0 apg, 35.3 3pt FG%
• F Brandon Huntley Hatfield: 12.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 56.7 FG%
• G Michael James: 12.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 34.0 3pt FG%
• G Tre White: 12.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 29.9 3pt FG%
• F JJ Traynor: 10.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 36.8 3pt FG%
• G Curtis Williams: 5.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 28.7 3pt FG%
• F Kaleb Glenn: 3.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 48.6 FG%

2024-25 schedule

• W, 93-45 vs. Morehead State, Nov. 4 at home
• L, 77-55 vs. No. 12 Tennessee, Nov. 9 at home
• W, 100-68 vs. Bellarmine, Nov. 19 at home
• W, 76-61 vs. Winthrop, Nov. 22 at home

Series history

Indiana leads the all-time series 12-8. The Hoosiers and Cardinals met last season as part of the Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. Indiana won 74-66 behind 14 points from Xavier Johnson. Indiana also defeated Louisville 68-67 in 2018, thanks to 21 points from Romeo Langford. Indiana won the first four matchups of this series, and Louisville had a four-game win streak in matchups from 2003-17.

Head coach: Pat Kelsey

Kelsey is in his first season at Louisville. He was previously the coach at College of Charleston for three seasons from 2021-24, where he went 75-27 overall, reached the NCAA Tournament twice and was named CAA coach of the year once. Prior to Charleston, he spent nine seasons at Winthrop and had a 186-95 overall record. Kelsey led Winthrop to two NCAA Tournament appearances, four regular season Big South conference titles and was named Big South coach of the year once. Kelsey, 49, was previously an assistant coach at Xavier, Wake Forest and Elder High School. He played point guard at Xavier and Wyoming from 1993-98.

Strengths

Louisville has been one of the nation’s most efficient teams in the paint, converting on 61.1% of its 2-point attempts, good for 16th nationally. However, that’s not a major emphasis of their offense, as they attempt just 28.3 2-point shots per game, which ranks 353rd. The majority of Louisville’s shots come from beyond the arc, where they average 10 made 3-pointers per game, 43rd most in the country. 

Defensively, Louisville has made life tough on its opponents. The Cardinals average 5.5 blocks per game, which ranks 28th nationally, and 9.5 steals per game, good for 42nd. That’s also reflected in an opponent field goal percentage of 38.6%, placing Louisville’s defense 54th in that category, and 62.8 points allowed per game, which is 39th.

Reyne Smith drains his 5th THREE of the night, bringing him to 20 points! That quick flick of the wrist is cash money! pic.twitter.com/yjNTu3Z3nr

— 35KYSports (@35KYSportsMedia) November 23, 2024

Reyne Smith came with Kelsey from Charleston to Louisville, and he’s leading the Cardinals with 14.8 points per game. Indiana will have to be especially mindful of his outside shooting prowess. Smith takes 9.5 3-pointers per game and connects at a 42.1% rate. Reyne, along with three other Cardinals who account for the most free throw attempts on the team, are all shooting 88.9% or higher.

Hepburn has familiarity with Woodson’s Indiana teams from his time at Wisconsin.

“They have a really good coach, really good players,” Hepburn said Tuesday. “I’m excited to go against Indiana again. They got me last time when we played them at Indiana, so this is a little revenge game for me. I’m happy to be able to do it in this atmosphere and do it with my teammates here. We’re feeling really good about this.”

Weaknesses

Louisville attempts a ton of threes, but aside from Smith, it also misses more than most teams. Louisville has shot 29.4% from 3-point range across four games, which ranks 311th nationally despite taking the sixth-most 3-pointers per game, 34. After Smith, the next four Cardinals with the most 3-point attempts each shoot 30% or lower. That was on display in Louisville’s 22-point loss at Tennessee, when it shot 26.7% from the field and made 10-of-39 3-point attempts.

That loss was especially concerning because Louisville forced 20 turnovers, which will often lead to wins. But the Cardinals’ defense faltered in that game, as Tennessee shot 56.6% from the field and 52.6% from 3-point range. Tennessee also had its way on the glass, out-rebounding Louisville 36-25. Louisville allows 37.3 rebounds per game, 280th in that category.

Smith led the Cardinals with 18 points off the bench against the Volunteers, but all five Louisville starters finished with single-digit points. Edwards especially struggled that game, making just 2-of-12 attempts from the field.

Season outlook

Louisville was picked to finish ninth out of 18 teams in the preseason ACC poll and has not been ranked this season. The Cardinals’ 22-point home loss to Tennessee shows they still have a ways to go in rebuilding what had been one of the worst Power 5 programs the last two years. But Kelsey brought in a solid transfer class, ranked No. 27 nationally, including seven seniors and two players from his successful Charleston teams. Louisville may not be a tournament team right away, but they should be far more competitive than the last two seasons.

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