LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Making their return to the court following a 10-day break in the action, the Louisville men’s basketball program bounced back in a major way against Bellarmine, thrashing their crosstown foe to the tune of 100-68 on Tuesday night at the KFC Yum! Center.
On top of improving to 14-1 all-time against the Knights (0-5, 0-0 ASUN), the Cardinals (2-1, 0-0 ACC) also took a first step back in the right direction following their last outing: a 22-point loss to No. 12 Tennessee back on Nov. 9.
Louisville shot much better than they did against Tennessee a week-and-a-half-ago, draining 54.7 percent of their attempts. On top of going 12-of-35 from beyond the arc, they also notched 44 points in the paint and out-rebounded Bellarmine 37-23.
Defensively, the Cardinals were a little shaky at times, but still held the Knights to 45.3 percent from the field and 9-of-25 on three-point attempts. They also forced 16 turnovers (for 18 points off them), as well as seven steals.
Louisville was led by Terrence Edwards Jr., who finished with 26 points – his most since scoring a career-high 30 points on Feb. 28, 2024 against Georgia State while at James Madison. Kasean Pryor also cracked 20-plus with 21 points, which was his most since scorin his career-high of 29 vs. Tulsa back on Mar. 9, 2024 while at South Florida.
Chucky Hepburn also had 16 points along with five assists, while J’Vonne Hadley and James Scott each has 10 – with the latter pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Bellarmine’s Ben Johnson poured in a game-high 29 points.
Both sides wound up being shorthanded for the matchup. Louisville lost Aboubacar Traore to a broken arm last week, while Koren Johnson had to miss the game due to a shoulder injury. Meanwhile, Bellarmine’s leading scorer, Jack Karasinski, was sidelined with a back injury.
Louisville was making shots early on, but their overall offensive execution right out of the gates – specifically their ball movement – didn’t look super crisp. Additionally, Bellarmine took advantage of some suspect interior defense by the Cardinals, making eight of their first 13 shots. Put it together, and the Cardinals held just a 22-19 lead just over 10 minutes into the game.
But after that, Louisville turned up their defensive effort, holding the Knights to 3-of-11 from the field in the half’s final ten minutes – and forcing 10 turnovers for the half overall. Couple that with an offensive showing that made steady improvements and finished with an 18-of-30 showing in the first half, the Cardinals closed the period on a 26-8 run to take a 48-27 lead into the half.
It marked their highest scoring first half since putting up 50 on Eastern Kentucky back on Dec. 14, 2019.
On the other side of the break, Louisville got out to a 26-point lead in the first couple minutes of the second half, but Bellarmine wouldn’t go away quietly. After that, the Knights strung together a quick 14-6 run to cut down the Cardinals’ lead to as little as 15 with just under 12 minutes to go.
However, that’s as far as Bellarmine would get. From that point on, Louisville hit 10 of their final 18 shots after hitting just seven of their first 16, while the Knights hit just five of their final 15 after draining eight of their first 14, with the Cards leading by as much as 34.
Next up, Louisville will conclude their four-game home stand to open the 2024-25 season with a matchup against Winthrop. Tip-off against the Eagles is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 22 at 7:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Noah Waterman, Billy Smith: Jamie Rhodes – Imagn Images)
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