Louisville Men's Basketball Postgame Notes

Louisville 66, Northern Kentucky 58
NIT First Round
March 13, 2018
KFC Yum! Center | Louisville, Ky.
Attendance: 9,974

TEAM RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

Louisville defeated Northern Kentucky 66-58 in the first round of the NIT, pushing the Cardinals to 21-13 this season.
Louisville now holds a 1-0 advantage in the series after only previously meeting Northern Kentucky in exhibitions.
The Cardinals, in their 15th NIT appearance in school history, moved to 15-14 in the postseason event.
- Louisville is 9-6 in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
No. 2-seed Louisville faces No. 3-seed Middle Tennessee in the second round of the NIT after the Blue Raiders defeated Vermont.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville's win over Northern Kentucky extends the Cardinals' home winning streak against first-time opponents to 48 games.
- Northern Kentucky was Louisville's 318th different opponent in men's basketball. UofL is 237-81 in first-time meetings.
- UofL has not lost to a first-time opponent at home since losing 74-70 to Ole Miss in Freedom Hall on Dec. 22, 1997.
Interim head coach David Padgett reached 21 wins, tied with former Louisville head coach John Dromo (1967-68) for the second-most wins by a first-year coach in program history.
Louisville has won 51 its last 70 postseason tournament games over the last 15 years.
- The Cardinals are 28-7 in the postseason over the last nine years.
The Cardinals went 14 of 23 from the floor in the second half, a 60.9 percent clip.
- It is the team's best second-half performance since hitting 63.0 percent (17 of 27) against Pittsburgh on Feb. 11 in the Petersen Events Center.
- Louisville's 60.9-percent shooting is the best second-half mark in postseason play since hitting 64.3 percent in the second half against Jacksonville State in the NCAA Tournament first round on March 17, 2017.
Louisville's defense limited Northern Kentucky to 22-of-64 shooting, a 34-percent mark. It's the lowest field goal percentage by an opponent since Siena knocked down 31.1 percent (9 of 30) of its shots on Dec. 6, 2017.
The Cardinals went 16 of 22 from the free throw line, their 15th time connecting on at least 15 free throws.

PLAYER NOTES

Ray Spalding collected 13 rebounds in the victory, marking the 13th time this season he collected double-figure boards.
- Spalding's 13 rebounds are the most by a UofL player in postseason play since Terry Rozier grabbed 14 against NC State in the NCAA East Regional semifinal on March 27, 2015.
- He recorded a game-high four blocks, one shy of his career high.
- Spalding led all players with three steals, one shy of his season high. He has 16 games with at least two thefts.
Deng Adel scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, leading UofL in scoring for the 14th time this season.
- Adel has totaled double-figure points 31 times this season, 57 times in his career.
- It is the seventh time this season, the ninth of his career, scoring at least 20 points.
Anas Mahmoud registered two blocks, boosting his season total 101 swats. He needs one more to tie Pervis Ellison (1987-88) for the second-most swats in a season.
Ryan McMahon scored 10 of the bench's 25 points, reaching double figures for the fifth time this season, sixth of his career.
- McMahon connected on his first four field goals, two of which came from beyond the arc.
Quentin Snider connected on 2-of-8 field goal attempts and finished the game with nine points.
- He increased his career point total to 1,194 points, passing the late Bud Olsen (1959-62) for 42nd on the school's all-time scoring list.
- Snider knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, tying Francisco Garcia (2002-05) and Russ Smith (2010-14) for ninth on the school's career 3-point list with 180.
Darius Perry, on his 19th birthday, scored two of his eight points on a thunderous dunk.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Anas Mahmoud

Ryan McMahon

Darius Perry

Quentin Snider

Ray Spalding

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