Louisville Overcomes Sloppy Offense, Uses Stifling Defense to Hold Off Winthrop

The Cardinals committed 20 turnovers, but held the Eagles to 31.4 percent from the field.

Nov 22, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward James Scott (0) and forward Noah Waterman (93) battle Winthrop Eagles forward Kelton Talford (4) for a rebound during the first half at KFC Yum! Center. / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Capping off their four-game home stand to tip off the 2024-25 season, the Louisville men's basketball program was able to take down Winthrop despite not playing their most efficient basketball, coming out on top with a 76-61 win on Friday night at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals (3-1, 0-0 ACC) move to two games over .500 with the win over the Eagles (4-3, 0-0 Big South), marking the first time they have been so since falling to 11-9 overall following former head coach Chris Mack's final game at Louisville: a 64-52 loss at Virginia on Jan. 24, 2022.

First year head coach Pat Kelsey also captures a victory over the program where he got his head coaching start. Kelsey coached Winthrop for nine seasons from 2012 to 2021 before spending the previous three seasons at Charleston.

Louisville shot the ball at a decent clip, but that's about all they did well on the offensive end. They connected on 48.1 percent of their attempts, but were 7-of-26 on three point attempts, and had a whopping 20 turnovers to just 12 assists.

However, the Cardinals were saved by a mostly superb and gritty defensive showcase. They held the Eagles to 31.4 percent from the field and 6-of-29 on threes, forced 19 turnovers, collected seven steals and blocked 10 shots. The only aspect that left some to be desired was their overall toughness around the paint, as evidenced by giving up 19 offensive rebounds and only winning the overall rebounding battle by three.

Unsurprisingly, Louisville didn't exactly look the sharpest on the offensive end to start this game. While they were 11-of-22 from the field in the first half, they also missed their first five three pointers before hitting three of their final four in the half, and turned the ball over 12 times. At one point, there was a 4:18 scoring drought for Louisville, and a 5:44 segment where they turned it over eight times.

Reyne Smith led Louisville in scoring with 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting, all threes, while J'Vonne Hadley collected a 12-point and 13-rebound double-double. James Scott had 12 points and five blocks, while Chucky Hepburn had 10 points as well.

What kept the Cardinals from getting down big early were their efforts on the defensive end. They held the Eagles to just 11-of-38 in the first half, including 3-of-14 on threes, forced 12 turnovers themselves and blocked seven shots - their most in a half since 2018. Add in the fact that Louisville was able to make 10 free throws to Winthrop's two in the first half, and they actually held a 35-27 advantage at the half.

It was a little bit of the same story in the second half as well, and Louisville has trouble putting separation between them and Winthrop. The Cardinals shot 15-for-32 after halftime but had 8 turnovers, while holding the Eagles to 11-for-32 shooting and forcing 7 turnovers.

That being said, Louisville did play noticeably tougher in the second half, and used that to their advanatge. They out-rebounded Winthrop 25-18 in this period, compared to getting out-rebounded 23-19 in the first. Their increased physicality gave the Eagles 16 free throw attempts, but they only connected on nine of them.

Next up, Louisville heads down to The Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis, and will kick off the event against Indiana. Tip-off against the Hoosiers is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 12:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of James Scott, Kelton Talford, Noah Waterman: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

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