Louisville Stunned By Wright State on Game-Winning Buzzer Beater

The Cardinals fall to 0-2 for the first time since 1999.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The first win of the Kenny Payne era will have to come another day.

After suffering a stunning loss to Bellarmine in their season opener, the Louisville men's basketball program followed that up with an equally as shocking upset loss, falling 73-72 to Wright State on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.

With 12.8 seconds to go, the Cardinals (0-2) were trapped following an inbounds pass to El Ellis, with a held ball call giving the ball right back to the Raiders (1-1) with just over eight seconds left. Despite having two fouls to give, Louisville did not send Wright State to the free throw line to give themselves a chance on the other end, allowing WSU's Trey Calvin to drain the game-winning long two-pointer.

As a result, Louisville falls to 0-2 to start a year for the first time since 1999, and fall to 65-5 in November home games. Three of those five losses have come in the last two seasons.

Despite shooting 50.8 percent from the field, the Cardinals connected on just 27.8 percent of their three-point attempts, while also turning the ball over 19 times to just nine assists.

On the other side of the court, the Raiders shot 47.7 percent and 31.3 percent on threes, while putting together a better assist-to-turnover ratio if 12-to-13. Louisville might have tallied 44 points in the paint themselves, but Wright State nearly had as much, coming away with 42.

The losing effort came in spite of a career-high 29 points from El Ellis, who shot 12-of-20 from the field and just 2-of-5 on three-pointers. Jae'Lyn Withers notched a 15-point/11-rebound double-double, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield also had 10 points.

Calvin, who had 37 points in Wright State's season-opening double overtime loss to Davidson, finished with 17 points.

Louisville and Wright State played a relatively even first half of basketball, with the lead changing hands seven times in the first 20 minutes, and lead only getting up to four points in either direction. The Cardinals had their most efficient half of basketball from a shooting standpoint, connecting on 50.0 percent of their first half makes, but adding eight turnovers to the mix. This allowed the Raiders to keep pace with the home squad, despite shooting at just a 42.4 percent clip before halftime.

But if anyone had momentum heading into the locker room, it was Louisville. The Cardinals fired off a quick 8-2 scoring burst in the final two minutes of the half, thanks to three driving layups from Ellis and a pair of free throws from Huntley-Hatfield, taking a slim 37-34 lead into halftime.

Louisville took that slight momentum and parlayed that into the opening segment of the second half, firing off an 11-4 run right out of the gates to extend their lead out to 10 for the largest lead of the night for either side. The double-digit lead wouldn't last long though, as Wright State immediately countered with a 14-5 stretch to trim Louisville's lead all the way down to a single point midway through the half.

The Cardinals were able to push their lead back out to as much as six down the stretch, but could not string together consistant offense or defense in the final six minutes.

While Ellis scored Louisville's final 13 points of the game, Wright State out-scored Louisville 15-8 after the Cardinals took a late six-point lead, including a 6-0 run over the final minute and three seconds.

Next up, Louisville will conclude their three-game home stand to open the 2022-23 season with a matchup against Appalachian State. Tip-off against the Mountaineers is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Mike James: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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