Pat Kelsey has his first signature win as Louisville basketball coach.
The Cardinals (4-1) on Wednesday afternoon obliterated No. 15 Indiana (4-1), 89-61, in the first game of the Bad Bow Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis at Atlantis Paradise Island resort.
Having moved to the winner’s bracket, U of L will face either No. 4 Gonzaga or West Virginia at noon on Thursday with a spot in the tournament championship on the line.
This was only Kelsey’s second victory against a ranked opponent in 16 tries across his 12 years and change as a Division I head coach — the first since Nov. 11, 2019, when Winthrop pulled off a 61-59 road victory over No. 18 Saint Mary’s.
Louisville improved to 10-12 all time, and ended a two-game losing streak, against the Hoosiers with its most lopsided win in a series dating back to 1921. The previous high was 22 points — 101-79 on Dec. 3, 1988. It also snapped a 16-game losing skid against ranked opponents with its first win against one since Jan 6, 2021 — 73-71 over No. 19 Virginia Tech at the KFC Yum! Center.
Flipping the script from their first game against a high-major opponent, a 22-point loss to then-No. 12 Tennessee on Nov. 9, the Cards threw the opening punch in both halves.
Let’s start with the haymaker that was the final 20 minutes. Coming out of the locker room with a 37-29 advantage, U of L opened on an 11-2 run — and it was only heating up.
For the period, it shot 66.7% (22 for 33) from the field; including a 17-for-18 stretch from 19:08 to 9:46. Nine of those shots were either layups or dunks. It also forced 10 turnovers — eight of which were steals — and held IU to only 32 points.
On Tuesday, Chucky Hepburn called this “a little revenge game for me” after the Hoosiers won the final meeting of the 2023-24 season with his former team, Wisconsin. And he delivered: tying Noah Waterman with a team-high 16 points to go along with 10 assists and seven steals.
Kasean Pryor, in his first start of the campaign, went for 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals while turning the ball over only one time across 27 minutes.
Reyne Smith rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
