LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Taking on preseason ACC favorite Duke for their first matchup in conference play this season, the Louisville men’s basketball program could not finish the job after getting off to a hot start, falling 76-65 on Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Cardinals (5-4, 0-1 ACC) are now on a three-game losing streak, and have lost their last six games to the No. 9 Blue Devils (7-2, 1-0 ACC),
Early on, Louisville looked like they were primed to pull off an upset, utilizing a blazing hot shooting start to go up 30-16 just over 11 minutes into the game. However, Duke was able to take advantage over the Cardinals’ lack of depth due to injuries, out-scoring them 60-35 the rest of the way.
Louisville is currently playing without three of the their top players: Kasean Pryor (ACL) and Koren Johnson (shoulder) were recently ruled out for the remainder of the season, while Aboubacar Traore (arm) is not expected to return for another few weeks.
Despite their good start, Louisville still finished the game with just a 37.3 shooting percentage, and were 11-of-31 from deep. They also turned the ball over 15 times, which led to 20 points on the other end.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ defense didn’t fare much better. They allowed the Blue Devils to shoot 45.2 percent despite an 8-of-30 performance on threes, and gave up 34 points in the paint. UofL only forced seven turnovers and generated four steals.
Terrence Edwards Jr. led Louisville with 21 points, while Reyne Smith added 13 points and Khani Rooths poured in 10 points. Duke had four guys crack double figures in scoring, led by a 20-point outing from No. 1 overall prospect Cooper Flagg.
Louisville got off to an extremely hot shooting start against Duke. They drained 11 of their first 17 attempts from the field, as well as eight of their first 11 three-point tries. Combine that with holding the Blue Devils to 12-of-33 in the opening half, and the Cardinals took a 14-point lead with just over eight minutes until halftime.
However, turnovers and a hot shooting start that cooled off saw Duke chip back into this one. Louisville committed 10 first half turnovers for 14 Blue Devil points, allowing Duke to end the half on a 17-7 run and trim Louisville’s lead to just 37-33 at the break.
The Cardinals were able to keep the Blue Devils at arm’s length through most of the second half, but couldn’t quite land the kill shot. They held Duke to just three for their first 12 shots of the period, but could only extend their lead up to seven point during the half’s first seven minutes.
Midway through the period, the lack of depth from rampant injuries began to catch up to Louisville. Using an 18-2 run, during which they made nine straight shots, Duke was able to flip a five-point deficit into an 11-point lead with 5:42
Down the stretch, the Blue Devils were able to drain 13 of their final 17 shots while the Cardinals could only make two of their final 13, ensuring that a comeback would not come to pass.
Next up, Louisville has one more matchup before taking on Kentucky, welcoming UTEP to the KFC Yum! Center. Tip-off against the Miners is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Cooper Flagg: Jamie Rhodes – Imagn Images)
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