What Pat Kelsey, Louisville Players Said After 76-61 Win vs. Winthrop

Read what the head coach of the Cardinals, Khani Rooths and Reyne Smith said after their win over the Eagles:

Nov 22, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey reacts during the second half against the Winthrop Eagles at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Winthrop 76-61. / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - While the Louisville men's basketball program didn't have a great night on the offensive end against Winthrop, they made up it with a mostly great outing on the defensive end of the court, using that to come out on top with a 76-61 victory.

Here's what head coach Pat Kelsey, forward Khani Rooths and guard Reyne Smith had to say following the win:

Head Coach Pat Kelsey

(Opening statement) “It was an emotional game in a lot of ways for me for many years. I was in Rock Hill for many years. I had my kids there. Looking down the court and seeing Mark (Prosser), who is like a brother to me, and we coached together for many years. I tried not to get sentimental throughout the course of the preparation and instead just focus on getting ready for a team. There were moments when my former players would walk in – the first point guard I ever signed, the first player I ever signed, just on and on and on. It was an emotional game. I have so much respect for that institution and so much respect for Mark Prosser. He is a phenomenal coach and a world-class person. That team is really good and will make some noise in the conference. I believe that. It is mirror images in a lot of ways. They value a lot of things that we value – great toughness, tenacity, challenge you on the glass, drive the ball at you, put foul pressure on you and play really fast. Our guys do that as well.  We played hard. I thought we defended at a really high level. Offensively, obviously the glaring thing is that we turned the ball over too much which is uncharacteristic of our team. I think we are one of the better assists-to-turnover ratio teams in the country. Obviously, you have to credit Winthrop for that, they did a good job defensively. They deflected the ball, touched the ball.”

(About the energy the charge and hitting the three pointer) “Khani (Rooths) is really good for us. He is a big spark. That was a huge spark, a big three made. There was a gasp in the KFC Yum! Center when he went out on the break, and he got fouled like he was going to be an ESPN highlight. I am proud of him. He works really hard. He is the youngest guy on the whole team. He is an old soul, I say that all the time. He is mature and extremely coachable. Having that approach behind the scenes results in a really good outcome.

(About the defensive numbers) “You look at the defensive numbers. They shot 31 percent for the game and 20 percent from three. Those are really big numbers. There were five or six things that we really locked in on in our scouting. I thought the guys carried that out. I usually just say numbers, but I will say his name because it means a lot. (Kelton) Talford, who I recruited and coached at Winthrop, in 2018 his freshman year. He is a handful. He is a very, very good college basketball player, who will play a long time and make a lot of money. I thought our guys did a good job on him. They are very, very good at creating fouls, especially in the first half when they only had six free throws. I don’t think as a good job of defending without fouling in the second half. But the two main things we focused on was their transition and their rebounding and guarding without fouling. We have to do a better job on the glass. They had too many offensive rebounds but we did a good job on their transition game for the most part.

(About the Atlantis tournament ahead is Coach satisfied with the progress) “I don’t think any coach in the country is ever satisfied. There are always ways you can improve and continue to grow. We have a lot of potential, but we need to clean up things. I love the mindset of our players. I love the growth that we have shown. We have a big test coming up in the coming days down in the Bahamas. We are looking forward to it.”

(On message to players amid uncharacteristic turnovers): “What’s the score, zero-zero, next play, just play with the boys, make the easiest play, make the simple play, and then move on.”

(On the team embracing a scrappy identity): “I think the turnovers were the one thing that wasn't clean, but I thought our guys played hard as heck. They defended their butts off. We got 43 percent of our misses in the second half. That’s elite. That’s a statistic that is indicative of playing hard and competing. As we mentioned before, there is some stuff to clean up, and we’ll go back and watch the tape and figure out what that is, and then turn to the next thing.”

(On team’s composure throughout the game): “That’s a mature mindset. You’ve just got to move on to the next play. Whether you get a call, it doesn’t go your way, you have a couple of turnovers, it’s about how you respond, it’s the next thing. Our guys, for the most part, have that mindset.”

(On Koren Johnson’s timetable for returning from injury): “It’s still day-to-day.”

(On Terrence Edwards’ performance): “He’s been really good for us. I don’t think he looked indecisive. He did a lot of things. He had a huge steal in a huge moment, I do know that. That ignited a big run that we had. Very good player, great leader for us. Maybe he didn’t have his best game, I don’t know, but I don’t think he looked indecisive. He’s a very confident player and a very effective player, and he’ll be a stud in the next game.”

Forward Khani Rooths and Guard Reyne Smith

(On the coaches’ message after the game)

Reyne Smith, Senior, G

“We really only just kind of spoke about the Bahamas, and kind of briefly spoke how we got Indiana as the first game. Right now, we're just enjoying this win and turning the page over tomorrow. So not much has been said yet on our approach, but that’ll get talked about.”

(On progress through the first four games)

Khani Rooths, Freshman, F

“Yeah, of course, I'm getting comfortable playing more minutes, I got to step up. Some people are out, and I just need to continue to be prepared when I come in the game and do what I got to do. It's up to coach whether I'm in the game or not, I'm bringing the energy.”

(On finding a breakthrough in the game)

Reyne Smith, Senior, G

“We knew going into the game that it was going to be scrappy, and Winthrop does a really good job at offensive rebounding and drawing fouls and things like that. So, you got to give them credit for executing that. We had to step it up as rebounding as a team and just continue to get stops and stay the course and not panicking if they grab a few offensive rebounds and things like that. So just keeping levelheaded and just kind of moving on to the next play”  

(On the biggest cause of turnovers and how did you go about trying to correct those in the second half)

Reyne Smith, Senior, G

“I feel like a lot of them are just kind of unforced turnovers and it happens, it’s basketball. No one's perfect, so a lot of those were just kind of tying it up mentally, just making sure the pass was on the money, just kind of decision making. So, just kind of tidying up those little things and just set settling in and just slowing down a little bit.”

(Could you tell how much the game meant to Pat Kelsey?)

Reyne Smith, Senior, G

“We knew going in, that it was his former school, and it meant a lot to him. He was the same as preparation, and that's what he does is just kind of keep the same all the time, he's intense all the time, but we knew what it was. We knew it was an important game for him with saying how his kids were born and grew up in Rock Hill, so we just had to go out there and play out for him”

(On how prepared the team feels going into the Bahamas Tournament, and how the Tennessee game has helped prepare them)

Khani Rooths, Freshman, F

“Definitely a lesson learned from that Tennessee game, and we know what to be prepared for and how to come out. Preparation starts as soon as possible for the Indiana game, and I think we are going to be ready.”

(On the familiarity aspect of having already played in the Bahamas)

 Reyne Smith, Senior, G

“Maybe, I think as far as playing in a ballroom. I feel like we’ll be kind of used to that. So, from that aspect that’s a little different, but we could play anywhere, so just kind of taking the same approach. But as far as playing in a ballroom was a little odd at first, so [we’ll] be used to that.”

(On the difference between shooting in a ballroom versus an arena)

Reyne Smith, Senior, G

“It’s different. It was a little unnatural at first, where the ceilings are so low. So, just kind of getting used to that and trying not to think about the surroundings. The rim is still 10 [feet high], it’s the same distance from three [point territory] and things like that. So, [I] kind of try and keep it as simple as possible.”

(If there has been a big takeaway from playing in his first four college games)

Khani Rooths, Freshman, F

“I’d say the biggest takeaway is probably not getting down on myself when making a mistake. Just moving on to the next play and then trying to build from that. I've been working at that every day in practice, and in the game, and it’s going to continue to get better, so that’s the biggest thing.” 

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