Louisville basketball: Cards fall to Ole Miss in SEC/ACC Challenge
Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey talks about his team’s 86-63 loss to Ole Miss on Tuesday night in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Sam Upshaw Jr.
Pat Kelsey couldn’t have asked for a tougher opponent in his first ACC game as Louisville basketball‘s head coach.
The Cardinals (5-3) open conference play against No. 9 Duke (6-2) today at the KFC Yum! Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Down to only eight scholarship players, with fifth-year forward Kasean Pryor (knee) and junior guard Koren Johnson (shoulder) ruled out for the season and senior forward Aboubacar Traore (arm) still on the mend, U of L is looking to snap a two-game losing streak. Kelsey’s team is coming off a lopsided loss to No. 20 Ole Miss on Tuesday in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Led by third-year coach Jon Scheyer and the projected No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA draft, Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils scored one of the ACC’s two wins in its showdown with the SEC by knocking off No. 2 Auburn on Wednesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They were the overwhelming favorite to win the league in its preseason poll.
Follow along below with live updates from the Yum! Center:
Mikel Brown Jr., a consensus top-three point guard recruit in the Class of 2025, is on a visit to Louisville today.
Here he is watching the Cards warm up before facing Duke at the Yum! Center:
The officials for today’s game: Roger Ayers, Bert Smith and Pat Driscoll.
The game between the Cards and the Blue Devils will air on ACC Network, which is channel 610 on AT&T U-Verse; channel 612 on DirecTV; channel 402 on Dish; and channels 524 and 937 on Spectrum.
Matt Schumacker (play-by-play) and Jon Crispin (analyst) will be on the call.
Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) will have the call on the Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9-FM and WGTK 970-AM in Louisville).
You can also listen online via GoCards.com.
Betting odds: Louisville is a 8.5-point underdog (-110) on BetMGM, which set the over/under at 145.5 points (-115, -105). The money line odds are Duke -400, U of L +310.
Score predictions: KenPom.com gives the Cards a 25% chance of winning and projects a 74-66 final score in the Blue Devils’ favor. BartTorvik.com is also forecasting a Duke victory (78%), with a projected final score of 75-67.
Follow the instructions below to submit a question to our Louisville basketball mailbag:
Questions can also be submitted via email (bholton@gannett.com) and X, formerly Twitter, to @brooksHolton.
- Monday, Oct. 21: vs. Young Harris College (exhibition) | SCORE: Louisville 106, Young Harris College 59
- Monday, Oct. 28: vs. Spalding (exhibition) | SCORE: Louisville 99, Spalding 54
- Monday, Nov. 4: vs. Morehead State | SCORE: Louisville 93, Morehead State 45
- Saturday. Nov. 9: vs. Tennessee | SCORE: Tennessee 77, Louisville 55
- Tuesday, Nov. 19: vs. Bellarmine | SCORE: Louisville 100, Bellarmine 68
- Friday, Nov. 22: vs. Winthrop | SCORE: Louisville 76, Winthrop 61
- Wednesday, Nov. 27: vs. Indiana (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas) SCORE: Louisville 89, Indiana 61
- Thursday, Nov. 28: vs. West Virginia (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas) SCORE: Louisville 79, West Virginia 70
- Friday, Nov. 29: vs. Oklahoma (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas) SCORE: Oklahoma 69, Louisville 64
- Tuesday, Dec. 3: Ole Miss (SEC/ACC Challenge) SCORE: Ole Miss 86, Louisville 63
- Sunday, Dec. 8: vs. Duke, 6 p.m., ACC Network
- Wednesday, Dec. 11: vs. UTEP, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Saturday, Dec. 14: at Kentucky, 5:15 p.m., ESPN
- Saturday, Dec. 21: at Florida State, 2 p.m., The CW
- Saturday, Dec. 28: vs. Eastern Kentucky, noon, The CW
- Wednesday, Jan. 1: vs. North Carolina, ACC Network
- Saturday, Jan. 4: at Virginia, 4 p.m., ACC Network
- Tuesday, Jan. 7: vs. Clemson, 7 p.m., either ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Saturday, Jan. 11: at Pittsburgh, either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Tuesday, Jan. 14: at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Jan. 18: vs. Virginia, either ESPN or ESPN2
- Tuesday, Jan. 21: at SMU, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Tuesday, Jan. 28: vs. Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 1: at Georgia Tech, 3:45 p.m., The CW
- Wednesday, Feb. 5: at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 8: vs. Miami
- Wednesday, Feb. 12: at N.C. State, 7 p.m., either ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Sunday, Feb. 16: at Notre Dame, 8 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 22: vs. Florida State, noon, The CW
- Tuesday, Feb. 25: at Virginia Tech, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, March 1: vs. Pittsburgh, either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Wednesday, March 5: vs. California, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, March 8: vs. Stanford, ESPNU
- Tuesday, March 11, through Saturday, March 15: ACC Tournament (Spectrum Center; Charlotte, North Carolina)
- Frank Anselem-Ibe (center, fifth year)
- Patrick Antonelli (guard, fifth year)
- Terrence Edwards Jr. (guard/forward, fifth year)
- J’Vonne Hadley (guard, fifth year)
- Chucky Hepburn (guard, senior)
- Koren Johnson (guard, junior)
- Aly Khalifa (center, senior, redshirt)
- Spencer Legg (guard, junior)
- Aidan McCool (guard, graduate student)
- Kasean Pryor (forward, fifth year)
- Kobe Rodgers (guard, senior, redshirt)
- Khani Rooths (forward, freshman)
- James Scott (forward, sophomore)
- Cole Sherman (guard, junior)
- Reyne Smith (guard, senior)
- Aboubacar Traore (forward, senior)
- Noah Waterman (forward, sixth year)
Click here to see the Blue Devils’ 2024-25 schedule.
Click here to see the Blue Devils’ 2024-25 roster.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
