The result was the same — another exhibition, another blowout win for Pat Kelsey’s inaugural Louisville men’s basketball team.
But how the Cardinals authored Monday night’s 99-54 rout of Spalding, a local Division III program, at the KFC Yum! Center was vastly different than how they went about dispatching Young Harris College of the DII ranks by 47 points last week.
Instead of scorching the nets from 3-point range, they won by attacking the rim and creating chaos defensively. It was good enough to fall just shy of crossing the century mark for the fourth time during Kelsey’s brief tenure and sweep preseason exhibition play for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign.
U of L forced 28 turnovers, 21 of which were steals, and turned them into 45 points.
Per statistician Kelly Dickey, this was only the third time in program history it has logged at least 20 steals and assists during a game. The other two times were against Morgan State in 1998 and against Tulsa in 1975.
Kasean Pryor led all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting in 20 minutes.
Koren Johnson added 20 on 6-for-8 shooting in 23 minutes. Noah Waterman (12) and Reyne Smith (10) were the only other players to break double digits.
U of L was without its lone freshman, Khani Rooths, who was ruled out due to a concussion.
The Cards return to the Yum! Center in a week to officially begin the 2024-25 season against Morehead State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 4.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
