Sputtering Louisville Blown Out By Arkansas State at Home

The Cardinals have now lost three in a row and five of their last seven games.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hosting Arkansas State to kick-off a three-game home-stand ahead of the start of conference play, the Louisville men's basketball program could not get out of their own way yet again, falling 75-63 Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals (4-6, 0-1 ACC) have now dropped their last three games, as well as five of their last seven after starting the 2023-24 season at 2-1. Louisville is now 6-8 in non-conference home games under second-year head coach Kenny Payne.

Despite facing a Red Wolves (4-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) whose only prior wins were against Alcorn State, UT Rio Grande Valley and UAB, Louisville struggled from start to finish, and were once again plagued by stretches of inconsistent effort on both ends of the floor.

They shot just 36.1 percent from the field, including a 2-of-15 mark on three-point attempts that saw them miss their first 13 tries from long distance. They also allowed Arkansas State to shoot 44.1 percent from the field despite going 5-of-25 on threes, and were out-rebounded 43-to-38. 

Louisville has a trio of double figure scorers, led by a 20-point and 11-rebound double-double from Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. Mike James and Skyy Clark both notched 10 point efforts.

The Cardinals were also dealing with some injuries on the block. Dennis Evans missed his third straight game with a shoulder injury, while J.J. Traynor was also sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Like they have so many times this season, Louisville got off to a slow start against Arkansas State. They committed four turnovers in the first five minutes, weren't shooting with much consistency, and continued to have lapses with their defensive rotations. This allowed the red Wolves to take an 18-11 lead just under 10 minutes into the game.

However, it was Louisville who held the advantage at halftime, going into the locker room with a 31-29 lead. Despite continuing to struggle shooting it, hitting just one of their final nine shots of the half, the Cardinals - primarily Huntley-Hatfield - were still able to get to free throw line, and held the Arkansas State scoreless over the final 3:47 of the half.

However, the Red Wolves came out firing to start the second half. They hit nine of their first 12 shots of the second half, including a stretch of seven straight makes, to pull out to an 11-point lead just over five minutes into the half.

From there, Louisville simply could not respond. They shot just 36.7 percent for the half including missing eight of their final 13 attempts, while letting ASU shoot 51.4 percent in the period to trail by as much as 20.

Next up, Louisville will continue their three-game home-stand with a matchup against Pepperdine. Tip-off against the Waves is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 17 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Skyy Clark: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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