No. 11 Louisville gets another chance Saturday afternoon to show it can string together a full game when Morehead State visits.
The Cardinals opened the season Monday with an 84-70 win over Chattanooga, and the early stretch looked sharp. Louisville hit 10 of its first 12 shots and raced to a double-digit lead in less than four minutes.
The margin climbed to 25 twice, but the second half turned messy. Louisville shot just 29% after halftime, going 9-for-31, and missed its first 12 attempts from 3-point range in the period.
Pat Kelsey also had to live with what happened on the glass. Louisville led rebounding 21-11 in the first half, only to watch Chattanooga finish with a 27-21 edge after the break.
Kelsey said he didn’t have to deliver a long postgame message because the room already understood the standard wasn’t met.
Adrian Wooley, the only scholarship player back from last season, echoed that view and said the four-day gap between games comes at a good time.
"We need that to go back in the gym and get better at what we need to get better on," said Wooley, who had 15 points and four steals. "To be able to watch film together and just be able to go into practice and just tighten up on the things that we can tighten up on."
Louisville did still get production across the board. All five starters finished in double figures, with Flory Bidunga leading the way at 16 points.
The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season at Kansas added five dunks and nine rebounds. Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and former North Carolina guard Seth Trimble chipped in 13 points and five assists.
Karter Knox, who spent the last two seasons at Arkansas, gave the Cardinals nine points and 11 rebounds off the bench. He exited late after a hard fall, though Kelsey did not think it was serious.
Morehead State arrives with a split through two games and a clear offensive high point already on the ledger. The Eagles beat Virginia University-Lynchburg 114-60 on Thursday, shooting 60.3% from the floor and getting 24 points from Clayton Parker on 8-for-10 shooting. Chase Dawson added 15 points and five assists.
Before that, Morehead State dropped its opener 83-58 at Western Kentucky, shooting 36.2% overall and 21.9% from 3-point range.
The Eagles won 20 games last season, went 15-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference to share the regular-season title, and bring back half of that roster. Dawson, who averaged 8.3 points per game last season, is the top returning scorer.
Coach Jonathan Mattox said after Thursday’s win that the Louisville game is about preparing for conference play.
"They’ve got good players across the board," he said. "Tough challenge for us. I’ll have some goals going into that game of what I would like to see us do and accomplish ... and we’re going to go and give it everything we’ve got."
In Other News...
Louisville Defense Shows Why Fans Are Still So Torn
The film from Louisvilles latest football game offered the kind of mixed bag that has kept fans debating this defense all season. There were breakdowns in coverage, moments when the back end simply lost track of assignments, and stretches where the offense was able to navigate the pocket and find answers. But there were also flashes of the unit at its best, with individual defenders making plays that reminded everyone why the Cardinals still have enough talent to change a game in a hurry.
Jabari Macks coverage error stood out as one of the cleaner examples of what has gone wrong, while Tyler Thompsons forced fumble showed the sort of disruption Louisville can still create when it is locked in. The contrast is what makes this defense so hard to pin down: the same group can look vulnerable on one snap and disruptive on the next, leaving the bigger question less about effort than about whether the Cardinals can string enough of those better moments together. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Offense Faces A Road Test That Could Shape The ACC Race
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Georgia Tech has had a rough season, but this is the kind of road game that can still complicate an ACC race if Louisville lets it linger. The Yellow Jackets are also weighing a quarterback change, and coach Brent Key said a decision is coming soon, adding another layer of uncertainty to a matchup that already feels like a test of how far Louisvilles offense can carry it away from home. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Saw Enough Against Stanford To Feel Both Encouraged And Uneasy
Louisville left the Stanford game with plenty to like on both sides of the ball, even if the film also gave the staff some reasons to keep digging. The defense had stretches where it looked organized and disruptive, and the offense showed enough design and execution to suggest the Cardinals can create answers when things are working cleanly. It was the kind of performance that can steady a team, because there were real signs of progress rather than just a box score illusion.
Still, the tape also exposed the sort of coverage and assignment issues that tend to linger if they are not cleaned up quickly. Louisville had moments where the structure broke down and some play designs did not hold up as intended, leaving the Cardinals with a mixed read on where they stand. The encouraging part is obvious. The uneasy part is whether the good stretches were the start of something sustainable or just the best moments in an otherwise uneven showing. [Read more 🡒]