What Pat Kelsey, Louisville Players Said After 86-63 Loss vs. Ole Miss

Read what the head coach of the Cardinals, forward Noah Waterman and point guard Chucky Hepburn said after their loss to the Rebels:

Dec 3, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey reacts during the first half against the Mississippi Rebels at KFC Yum! Center. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program struggled shooting from every area of the floor against Ole Miss, and when you combine that with suspect defense around the rim by the Cardinals, it resulted in an 86-63 loss to the Rebels in the SEC/ACC Challenge.

Here's what head coach Pat Kelsey, forward Noah Waterman and point guard Chucky Hepburn had to say following the loss:

Head Coach Pat Kelsey

(Opening statement)

“Ole Miss was really good tonight, they’re a very good team. They’re well-coached, they’re tough, they’re deep, they’re physical and scored the ball way too easy. But you’ve got to give them a lot of credit, they took it to us. I thought our defense was really good down in the Bahamas and it wasn’t to our standard tonight. Early on in the game, I felt like we had quite a few open looks that didn’t go down and I felt like we allowed our offense to affect our defense a little bit. In the Bahamas, we were a little sluggish early on in several of those games and we just kept guarding and I didn’t think we did that as well tonight. No rest for the weary… tough loss tonight. Give them credit, tip your cap, they kicked our butt. We dust ourself off, we show up tomorrow, we get back to work against obviously a really good opponent on Sunday.”

(On players being off to a slow start in 3-point shooting)

“I believe in our guys. I’ve said it before, I believe in the back of their bubble gum card. I think for sure the numbers will even out. We’re generating good shots. Obviously, I haven’t watched the tape, but I think the majority of the shots that we’re generating are good shots. Good shooters are shooting them and those guys are working their tails off all hours of the day and night getting repetitions up, so I sleep like a baby in terms of the ball falling. The percentages even themselves out. This has happened before, I just don’t want our guys to lose confidence, because I really, really believe in them. They’ll bounce back and be better on Sunday.”

(On Ole Miss trying to create one-on-one offensive opportunities)

“Ole Miss really tried to pick on some matchups. They really exploited us one-on-one, but it's important to remember, it's not just me against him, it's us against them. I think one-on-one defense is obviously a one-one challenge where you have to bow your neck, grit your teeth, and sit down and guard the ball, but it's important to have off-ball support as well. It's not about just that one-on-one challenge, it's a team defense aspect. Obviously, that's something we have to clean up, because they exploited that today.”

(On season low in turnovers forced and no fastbreak points, as Ole Miss took away transition opportunities)

“It was very one-on-one heavy. So I don’t want to say that there wasn’t as much passing, there was a lot more one-on-one. There was not as much ball movement, people movement. It was trying to get a matchup and attack you one-on-one. That statistic is very telling. We have a certain number that we have as a goal for every game in terms of our deflections, and eight turnovers is significantly lower than that. That’s obviously a symptom that we could’ve played harder off the ball. That's a mark of tenacity, grit, and effort. I don't know what our exact deflection total was, but it was pretty low. We outrebounded them, looking at the stat sheet for positives. Obviously, 17 offensive rebounds is not the real statistic because we missed a heck of a lot of shots. It’s about the percentage of misses that we got back. I have not had a chance to get all of those statistics back yet. I thought there was a lull there in the second half, and they punched us in the mouth, went on a big run, and we didn't respond. I called a timeout and got after them a little bit. Guys like Khani Rooths came out of that timeout angry and played really, really hard and gave us a little bit of juice and a lift, but we needed more than just that. I'm never the type to say ‘we just were very subpar defensively, that's why they won.’ Ole Miss was really really, good offensively. They're terrific at taking care of the ball and they're terrific in creating turnovers. That's their identity and that's what they did here to us tonight.”

(On if Pat agrees with his players seeming to favor 3-pointers over 2-pointers) 

“I don’t know if I agree with you on that. What [Ole Miss’s] big defensive scheme is to apply great ball pressure and when the ball is on one side of the floor, they side the ball and they force to the baseline. And when they force to the baseline, they flood to help. That's their deal. So, when you drive, it’s putting you in some peril, because you’re driving into danger because bodies are coming at you. But, because of how they rotate, you really have to look opposite for kicks [for 3-pointers]. I thought we did a pretty good job of that. You look at our assist total, and it was really low, and part of that is we weren’t making shots. But I think if you go back and you look at our paint touches and paint decisions, I think we were, for the most part, making pretty darn good decisions, spraying the ball out and generating open shots. They make it hard at the rim, because of their help rotations, and all we focused on [were] paint decisions. If that paint decision is to finish, you finish, if it’s to spray, you spray. I thought for the most part, we made good decisions. If we shoot at a percentage that’s more common to what we normally do, [I think] our assist total would have been at 17 or 18 [assists] to 12 turnovers, which isn’t a bad assist-to-turnover ratio. So, I don’t know if I totally agree with you on [us] not making good decisions on finishing. [Ole Miss] flock[s] to the ball, they try to make hard plays on the ball. They try to protect the rim and you really, really have to see the spray. Then you got to step up and make shots, and obviously it didn’t fall for us tonight, and you credit their defense.” 

(On if there has been an adjustment period without Kasean Pryor, Aboubacar Traore, and Koren Johnson) 

“It’s just part of the deal. It's part of sports, part of life. Stuff happens, people get hurt. We don’t make excuses, and we don’t give explanations. We had a couple guys go down. Our rotation got a little bit shorter, and that’s part of it. We just [have to] adapt. Obviously, there’s a little bit of an adjustment period, as we kind of have this new normal, if you will, of what our roster looks like and things like that. That's no excuse for why we lost tonight and why Ole Miss won, it’s just part of the deal. We addressed some things in the locker room, and the guys will show up tomorrow and they’ll have unbelievable attitudes and pursue preparation of Duke with great excellence. My expectation is to come out here  on Sunday night, and play really, really well and have a big time ACC game under the big bright lights of the Yum! Center, and we're excited for the opportunity.” 

Forward Noah Waterman and Point Guard Chucky Hepburn

(On defensive effort)

Chucky Hepburn, G, Senior:

“Defense is all that matters for us. They just went with Sean Pedulla and he handled the ball for the majority of the time and I was on Jaylen Murray so that took me out defensively. We all have to step up, it wasn’t just me. Everybody needs to have energy on the floor. When somebody was pouting tonight, it was contagious, and it affected all of us and it was just bad chemistry tonight. That’s not us, that’s not us at all. We're going to get back to who we are and we're going to find our identity again.”

(On shooting slump)

Noah Waterman, F, Sixth Year:

“I’m not too worried about the missed shots, just like anybody else on our team. We have a lot of good shooters on our team.  So whether it’s Reyne (Smith), Fatt (Terrance Edwards Jr.), or me not shooting well, I have confidence in all the guys on the court to make shots. With me, I am maybe in a little slump, I am not too worried about it though. The next game is the next game and shooters shoot.”

(On what individual adjustments are they making as players with the recent loss of two players to injury?)

Chucky Hepburn, G, Senior:

“Honestly, we beat ourselves tonight. Obviously Koren (Johnson) and KP (Kasean Pryor) are a huge factor for us, but we beat ourselves. We were out there playing defense, one on one, by ourselves. We weren’t in the gaps like how they were and making us guard. When we’re ourselves, like we were in the Bahamas, a gritty team, that is our identity, and we didn’t show that tonight. We can’t go around sulking because we lost and got blown out tonight. We’ve got to move on because we have another big challenge coming in on Sunday, and if we mope around, they’re going to come in and do the same thing to us, and I’m not going to let that happen. We’re going to show fight and show grit on Sunday, better believe that.”

(On what did Ole Miss do so well that didn’t allow for you guys to be as successful on the defensive end, as you guys are used to being?)

Chucky Hepburn, G, Senior:

“Again, like I said, it was nothing they really did. They just played one on one and we let them guard one on one, and they beat us, that is what they did really well, we didn’t play well together defensively at all, we just left each other on islands. Ole Miss took advantage of that, and they did that really well tonight, they hit their shots, so we can’t let that happen again. We got to play as a team together on defense.”

(Photo of Pat Kelsey: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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