Louisville Rallies, Holds Off UMBC in Season-Opener

The Cardinals win their first game of year two under head coach Kenny Payne.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Taking the court for the first time in 244 days, the Louisville men's basketball tipped off the 2023-24 regular season on the right side of the win/loss column, squeaking past UMBC 94-93 in thrilling fashion Monday at the KFC Yum! Center.

Down by as much as eight points in the second half and three heading into the final three minutes, the Cardinals (1-0, 0-0 ACC) fired off an 8-0 to seemingly have the Retrievers (0-1, 0-0 AE) on the ropes. However, UMBC wouldn't go quietly, countering with a quick 5-2 spurt to tie the game heading into the final 20 seconds.

On the ensuing Louisville possession, after a brief scrap for the ball following Tre White grabbing his own driving miss, J.J. Traynor emerged in the paint with the ball and leapt for the go-ahead putback dunk.

UMBC still had a chance on the other side. After a controversial foul call awarded to the Retrievers, Khydarius Smith went to the free throw line with two seconds left. He made his first free throw, but missed his second, handing the win to Louisville.

Kenny Payne, entering his second year at the helm, captures his first season-opener as a head coach following last season's loss to Bellarmine in his coaching debut. It also snapped a 36-game losing streak by the Cardinals when trailing at halftime.

Louisville shot an even 50.0 percent from the field, but went just 2-for-14 on three point attempts. On the other end of the floor, the Cardinals struggled mightily defensively, allowing UMBC to shoot 50.7 percent overall and a blazing 11-of-21 on threes. UofL also went a paltry 24-of-39 at the free throw line.

Countering for the deficiency from long range and at the line, Louisville made their hay in the painted area. They scored 60 points in the paint, and won the rebounding battle 47-35 plus 20-12 on offensive boards.

The Cardinals were led by a career day from Mike James. He not only finished with a career-high in points with 25, he collected his first career double-double with 10 rebounds as well. he went 6-of-12 from the field, and 13-of-14 from the free throw line.

Four additional Louisville players finished in double figures scoring. Traynor finished with 13 points, Ty-Laur Johnson collected 12, and Tre White and Skyy Clark had 11. UMBC was paced offensively by a 28-point outing from Dion Brown and 21 points from Bryce Johnson.

Throughout most of the first half, Louisville had trouble generating any kind of separation between them and UMBC, as anything they would do offensively would be negated almost immediately on defense. Louisville made 11 of their first 21 shot attempts, but allowed UMBC to make nine of their first 19 shots, three of which were triples.

With under seven minutes to halftime, UMBC took control of the game. Assisted by a stretch where the Retrievers made eight straight made field goals and 9-of-10 while the Cardinals went 1-of-9, Louisville allowed a 17-2 run to their visitors to trail by as much as 13 with under three minutes to go.

Louisville was able to tighten it up a bit on both ends of the floor to end the half, but it still resulted in them trailing 48-40 heading into the locker room.

When the Cardinals returned to the floor, they did seem to operate with a high sense of urgency and energy. They made five of their first seven shots of the half while holding UMBC to one of their first seven to fire off a 12-2 run to start the half.

However, a similar struggle to the first half arose in the second half. UMBC responded with a 8-0 to jump in front by six, and Louisville could not string together multiple defensive stops. Until the final rally by the Cardinals, there was not a single run of more than six points by either side.

Next up, Louisville will continue on their three-game home stand to open the 2023-24 season, and host Chattanooga. Tip-off against the Mocs is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of J.J. Traynor: Matt Stone - Louisville Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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