What Pat Kelsey, Louisville Players Said After 72-59 Win vs. Wake Forest
![Jan 21, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey on the bench during the second half against the SMU Mustangs at Moody Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Jan 21, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey on the bench during the second half against the SMU Mustangs at Moody Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2477,h_1393,x_764,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/louisville_report/01jjqytmc9trrdqn5w45.jpg)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program's winning streak is now sitting at 10 games, matching their longest winning streak in five years with a 72-59 win over Wake Forest.
Here's what head coach Pat Kelsey, shooting guard Reyne Smith and guard/forward Terrence Edwards Jr. had to say following the win:
Head Coach Pat Kelsey
(Opening statement)
“Wake is a really good team. One of the best teams defensively in our conference, they are tough and physical. We knew that we had our work cut out for us. I thought our guys played 30-32 minutes, at times, as good of basketball that we have played all year. Defensively, I thought we were very good. We shared the ball. We had a good assist-to-turnover ratio. This team has a really good coach. I have known him for a very long time. At the press conference earlier in the week, I said we kind of came up through the business in kind of the same way. He was a Power 5 assistant and then was at East Tennessee State as a head coach. I was at Winthrop. We played some home and homes against them and every time we played it was a knock-down, drag out game. They are well-schooled and well-prepared. It makes it really tough, and we were fortunate to come out with a win.”
(About holding Wake to eight field goals in the first half)
“We wanted to try to disrupt. We wanted to take them out of rhythm, and I thought we did a pretty good job of doing that. Our deflection total at halftime was through the roof. That is always a good indicator that you are disruptive and flying around. Obviously, 23 (Hunter Sallis) is one of the best players in our conference, an All-ACC performer. He made those three three-pointers to start the game, and I thought all three were relatively tough shots – the ones you kind of just tip your cap to. I know Terrence (Edwards) guarded him after that spell. Although different guys guarded him throughout the game, but I keep telling you guys that Terrence is just doing a huge job. His defense along with our entire team, but I thought he did a really good job on him (Sallis). We were fortunate to generate some good shots and made some good shots. We just got rolling and the crowd was phenomenal. I know it is a school night, so people have to get up and out a little early. But they made a major, major impact on the game.”
(On Louisville getting on rolls against teams during win streak):
“We’re just clicking, you just kind of feel it. We have a lot of momentum. We’re playing well together. Our offense is in a great rhythm and then they’re really guarding. No matter what the score is, if you’re up 20, you’re up 25, you’re up 27, when we get to those media timeouts the first question I always ask is ‘what’s the score?’ They all say, ‘zero to zero,’ and we’re just trying to win that next four-minute segment. Typically, our team is really good in that regard. The last eight minutes it wasn’t that way, but it’s good that we have some teachable moments and some things we can clean up late in the game. I thought we generated some open shots. We couldn’t really get any to go down, and I felt like it kind of affected our defense a little bit, and that hasn’t been the case. It’s good that we have some things and I can have a little bit of an aggressive counseling session with them tomorrow.”
(On team scouting and execution)
“I give our team a lot of credit. We prepared for their 1-3-1 [zone] the last couple of days, but I just didn’t feel going to bed last night that I liked our approach. The staff and I, we watched every possession of their 1-3-1 throughout the course of the season, I think they’ve played 89 possessions [with the zone] throughout the course of the year. We made some tweaks, and at the shootaround yesterday we kind of scrapped what we had done the last couple of days and went to a kind of new attack, and the guys, like they always do, picked it up and executed it really well.”
(On Khani Rooths):
“Khani’s been great for us. He’s the lone freshman on a team with a bunch of older dudes, and I’ve said from the very beginning that he doesn’t carry himself like a freshman and he never has. From the first time we had a workout, I tried to dumb some stuff down to him like you do with freshmen, sometimes you spoon-feed them. He’s like ‘Coach, I got it. I got it. Don’t slow down for me.’ I love that. He’s a very conscientious teammate, his teammates love him, he works hard every day. He’s a phenomenal kid and a very talented young man.”
(On Hepburn and Hadley)
“J’vonne (Hadley) is, jeez-oh-pete, he’s special. Man, he is just a special kid. He is so mature. He’s way more mature than I am, which maybe that’s not hard to do but just the way he goes about his work. His relentless pursuit of the basketball. We got other guys like that as well, but you asked me about J’vonne specifically. He empties the tank on every possession, and he’s really grown. He’s had an unbelievable season. You can see the things, the positions were putting him in. He’s getting more and more kind of clout in our offense, running stuff through him a lot. We put him at the point, just let him run some actions. Yeah, I love coaching J’Vonne. And you know Chucky, eight assists, three turn overs today. I keep saying that he’s playing at as high level and as good as any point guard in America, and I wouldn’t trade him for anybody.”
(On common themes, well prepared, importance of scout team)
“Twenty-five strong, man. You guys have heard me say that before, 25 strong. Now that we’re at the Power 5 level, when I was a mid-major level, there was probably, literally 25 people in our thing. But there’s a lot more that 25 now but symbolically, we have that number 25 for a reason. But every single person, whether its Dana, who is phenomenal at what she does. She does her job with excellence every day because it matters. The student managers, I always say, hire those guys and thank me later because they are just so hard working, so resourceful. The scout team guys, like memorizing the sets of the other team, memorizing the baseline out of bounds alignments of the other team, and identifying when the other tram lines up in that baseline out of bounds, what’s coming. And they are screaming it out to our players, that matters.
I was a scout team guy playing for the late great Skip Prosser, Xavier and Wake Forest. And I just took so much pride in that. My job was not to let those starters down by preparing them with everything I got. Every day we try to make sure that every person our organization, the fan base is a part of the 25 strong. They have a job to do, and they are doing it. They’re showing up in big numbers. They’re being loud, and they’re making an impact on the game. Everything goes into winning, and we just make sure everybody knows how much we appreciate the fans. To know how much we appreciate them, the walks-ons, the GA’s, the manager’s, Dana, the academic people, I mean, I could keep going down the line. Twenty-five strong is real, and it matters to us, and its important. It’s a big part of our culture.”
(Follow up to how well the scout team prepares this team for opponents and how the scout team operates)
“Well, the assistants have their scouts, right? So, we break up all the games by assistants, and then as soon as this game ends, and I don't even know who has the Georgia Tech scout [team], but that coach will get with the scout team tomorrow, and then they'll start going over everything. We don't show our guys everything, but the scout team knows everything. I have scout team pride, walk on pride, man. I don't have it tattooed on me, but it might as well be, because it really matters. Skip Prosser treated me like I was the Chucky Hepburn of that team, right? He didn't treat me like a second-class citizen because I was not a starter and didn't play a lot of minutes. He valued my role, and we will always do that in our organization as well.”
(On his message to his team during the final Louisville timeout)
“Well, we gave up a free throw, an offensive rebound off a free throw, which is a cardinal sin, I mean, it drives me nuts. So, we had two back-to-back plays where we didn't block out and [Wake Forest] got second shots. [That’s] just not what we're about. I don't care what the score is, it's not acceptable. So, we can learn from it and we'll be better moving forward.”
Shooting Guard Reyne Smith and Guard/Forward Terrence Edwards Jr.
(On being in a bit of a shooting slump lately, but still playing hard defensively)
Terrence Edwards, Jr.
“I just keep going. My teammates and coaches always tell me to keep shooting, keep doing the things that I'm doing right, which is being a good teammate. And bring my defensive intensity every game, whether I'm making or missing shots. I know my team depend on me to come out there and guard, just be a pro in that aspect and be like an older guy, which you don't care about making or missing shots, it was just good to see it go in today.”
(On guarding Hunter Sallis, what was the key to keeping him under control)
Terrence Edwards, Jr.
“I didn't ask [to guard Sallis] It's just me and Chucky [Hepburn] try to give guys different looks. Chucky likes to start off guarding a guy when they’re from the same area or whatever. It was good to see him accept that challenge. We just want to give guys different looks. As the game goes on, you give guys different looks on ball screens or whatever it just throws guys off. I feel like that's why we've been on this streak, because our defense, intensity and working together and making guys turn it over, and we know he going to shoot a lot of shots. So long as you are there to contest it, everything will work out.”
(On the importance of preparation)
Reyne Smith
“Extremely important. We go into every single game we play with the utmost respect for each opponent and understand what they do really well. They threw a lot of zone at us and our coaching staff does a great job of just preparing us for if they go man, if they go zone. In the huddle talked about man play and if they go into a zone, we’ve got that ready as well. We’ve got to give credit to the staff and then the players for locking in on long film sessions. Things can seem to get kind of repetitive as the season goes on, but we did a really good job of staying engaged in our mental preparation for every single opponent.”
(On how they practiced during the off week)
Reyne Smith
“We had a day during the week where we kind of get up and down and get to our lungs a little bit. We’ve got to stay ready and stay in shape, especially during a week off, but the last two days have been pretty normal preparation for us, watching the same amount of film as we usually do. Practices are very similar to what we do with a two-day prep, but the start of that week off is a little more recovery, but they get one tough practice in to get up and down and stay in rhythm.”
(What’s the team’s mindset when opponents get physical)
Terrence Edwards Jr.
“I would just say that’s our intensity coming into every into every game. It’s high-level basketball. We don’t look at it like they’re doing anything on purpose. When you go down a little bit, you try to find things to get your way back in the game and we are prepared for those moments. We know that’s a tough team, we give them credit for that, and they’ve been playing like that all year, whether they’re up or not up. Those guys are a little chippy, which makes them so good. You’ve just got to be able to keep going, stay clean, play clean and don’t do anything that will get you thrown out or something like that.”
(What makes Chucky (Hepburn) an elite player?)
Reyne Smith
“He’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable teammate and he’s just a student of the game. He is always watching film and seeing what’s open when he drives and just finding teammates - whether it is a lob to James (Scott) or us out there on the perimeter. He’s unselfish and just wants to win and he’s doing whatever he can to allow that. Whether there are games he’s going to score or games he’s playmaking. He’s a special player and just an unbelievable teammate. It’s so much fun being out there and playing with him.”
(Photo of Pat Kelsey: Raymond Carlin III - Imagn Images)
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