Louisville Falls to Kentucky Wesleyan in Final Exhibition
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hosting Division II foe Kentucky Wesleyan for their second and final exhibition game prior to the start of the 2023-24 season next week, the Louisville men's basketball program could not overcome a litany of mistakes, getting upset 71-68 Monday at the KFC Yum! Center.
The loss marks the Cardinals' second loss in exhibition play under second year head coach Kenny Payne following the stunner against Lenoir-Rhyne last season. Prior to his arrival, UofL had a 39-game winning streak in exhibition play, and had not lost an exhibition match since 2000.
Louisville held Kentucky Wesleyan to just 36.1 percent from the field and 7-of-27 on three point attempts, but shot at a worse clip at 34.0 percent and 5-of-19 on threes. The Cardinals' shot selection started the game in a good spot, but deteriorated as the matchup went on.
Despite a clear advantage in both length and athleticism, Louisville displayed an abysmal effort and execution when it came to rebounding. Kentucky Wesleyan out-rebounded them 47-to-33 and 16-to-5 on offensive boards, leading to an 18-to-2 discrepancy in second chance points.
Skyy Clark led all scorers with 24 points and seven rebounds, while Mike James added 16 points and six boards plus 11 and seven from Tre White. However, outside of that trio, Louisville could only get 17 points. In fact, Kentucky Wesleyan collected 39 bench points to just four from the Cards.
In the opening segments of the first half, the effort on both ends of the floor was there for Louisville, but they were getting extremely unlucky on offense with missed shots. They only connected on two of their first 17 attempts, but did hold Kentucky Wesleyan to just three of their first 18 shots, while also forcing nine KWC turnovers in the first 12 minutes.
When shots did start to fall as the first half began to close, nothing else went right for the Cardinals. While they made five of their final eight shots of the half, that also came with five turnovers int he final five minutes. Their efforts on defense also completely broke down, allowing the Panthers to connect on seven of their last 13 attempts. Throw in an abysmal effort on the boards, getting out-rebounded 25-16 in the first half, and the game went into halftime tied at 26.
Louisville took a slight edge to start the second half, but had trouble generating separation from Kentucky Wesleyan. Over the first 12-plus minutes after halftime, the Cardinals went 5-of-10 from the field, but only maintained a four-point advantage as they could not string together consistant possessions on either end of the floor.
From there, KWC took control. The Panthers hit eight of their final 16 shot attempts, while the Cardnals hit four of their final 12 shots including an over five minute stretch without hitting a field goal. Louisville cut it to within two twice in the final four minutes, but each time Kentucky Wesleyan responded with a three-pointer.
Next up, Louisville will host UMBC for their 2023-24 regular season opener. Tip-off against the Knights is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 6 at 7:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Kaleb Glenn: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)
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