What Louisville HC Kenny Payne Said After 86-59 Loss at Pitt

Read what the head coach of the Cardinals said after their loss to the Panthers.

PITTSBURGH - Thanks to an unreal 41-point performance from Pitt's Blake Hinson, the Louisville men's basketball program suffered yet another blowout loss, falling 86-59 in their road rematch with the Panthers.

Here's what head coach Kenny Payne had to say following the loss:

Head Coach Kenny Payne

(On the slow start to the game)

Well, I think, again, we're ranked 305th in experience. so it's gonna be hard for them to understand the consistency that's needed, the discipline that's needed. Especially when you were playing without a point guard. It's the reason why I want players that are versatile. Because, from the summer till today, I practice on every player, one through five, being able to handle the ball and bring the ball up the court, and initiate offense for these moments right here.

Look, I love my team, I love my guys. I'm 1,000 percent behind them. We are all disappointed in what happened out here today. Disappointed that an elite scorer (Blake Hinson) scored, but how did he score? He scored with ease. He didn't really have to work really hard to get the baskets that he got. So that bothers me some, really it bothers me a lot. I'm not happy with that. Because we knew what he was. We know how good he is. We know how strong he is. We know how good he shoots the three. With him to walk out of this game with nine threes, somebody missed something.

(On if they made any adjustments to try and get Blake Hinson out of his rhythm)

We face guarded some, he drove us. We trapped him some, he made good passes and other guys made shots. When you look at it, his 41, it doesn't say anything about his "hockey assists." We trapped, he made a pass, they made a pass: three or layup. His impact on the game was immense. it was it was enormous for their team, because he controlled the game, which put us in scramble mode.

(On the play of the guys who were available, and why they didn't seem "connected")

Look, they had a bad night. I'm not happy with the night, they're not happy with the way this one turned out. A guy walked into a game and had 41 points. They're disappointed, I'm disappointed. We have to understand that, in the locker room, we talked about what this game is. This game is basically life or death, or you can't pursue your career and be the players that you want to be. The players that make it long term in this game, that make money in this game, it's a fire inside of you. Every day is, 'how do I get better?" It's not casual. Young players are having to learn that. With my guys, there's this 'I want this so bad.' What are you willing to sacrifice to get it? Because the other guy wants it pretty good, and that guy today was Hinson.

(Photo of Kenny Payne: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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