Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics
Cards Face Kentucky State in First Men's Basketball Exhibition
October 28, 2021 | Men's Basketball
Game Information
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Denny Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,090) (171-27 in 12th year)
Television: ACC Network Extra (available to authenticated subscribers of ACCN on the ESPN app) Kent Taylor, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) - Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (game not available on Sirius XM)
Series History: UofL leads 1-0
Last Meeting: UofL 106, Kentucky State 93; Louisville Holiday Classic (Dec, 26, 1975 at Freedom Hall)
Next UofL Game: Nov. 3 vs. West Georgia (exhibition), KFC Yum! Center, 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra)
Louisville will play its first of two exhibition games in preparation for the 2021-22 season as the Cardinals face the Kentucky State Thorobreds on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
UofL tuned up with a public intraquad scrimmage on Oct. 16 and has been in full practice sessions since Sept. 30. The Cardinals competed in three 10-minute periods in the scrimmage as Jae'Lyn Withers produced a combined double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Kentucky State played just four games during the 2020-21 season due to the pandemic. In its last full season in 2019-20, KSU posted a 10-17 record and finished tied for fifth in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) West division with a 7-12 league record.
In the only previous meeting between the two schools 46 years ago, Wesley Cox scored 28 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to lead five double-figure scorers as Louisville beat Kentucky State 106-93 in the 1975 Louisville Holiday Classic (12-26-75). Cox made 13-of-18 shots from the field in a game where Ricky Gallon added a double-double for the Cardinals with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Kentucky State finished 23-6 that season.
Louisville has won its last 37 straight in-season exhibition games, a span stretching the last 20 years (since 2001). The Cardinals last dropped an exhibition game on Dec. 2, 2000 when falling 87-86 in double overtime to a Global Sports team in Freedom Hall.
Louisville achieved a 13-7 record in a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season as the Cardinals finished seventh in the ACC with one of the least experienced teams in the nation. Louisville returns three of its top five scorers and five of its top eight. UofL was picked to finish sixth in the ACC in the 2021-22 in a preseason media poll with Duke as the league favorite. Malik Williams was honored on the 12-person preseason All-ACC Team as a second team selection.
Notes
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Denny Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,090) (171-27 in 12th year)
Television: ACC Network Extra (available to authenticated subscribers of ACCN on the ESPN app) Kent Taylor, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) - Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (game not available on Sirius XM)
Series History: UofL leads 1-0
Last Meeting: UofL 106, Kentucky State 93; Louisville Holiday Classic (Dec, 26, 1975 at Freedom Hall)
Next UofL Game: Nov. 3 vs. West Georgia (exhibition), KFC Yum! Center, 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra)
Louisville will play its first of two exhibition games in preparation for the 2021-22 season as the Cardinals face the Kentucky State Thorobreds on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
UofL tuned up with a public intraquad scrimmage on Oct. 16 and has been in full practice sessions since Sept. 30. The Cardinals competed in three 10-minute periods in the scrimmage as Jae'Lyn Withers produced a combined double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Kentucky State played just four games during the 2020-21 season due to the pandemic. In its last full season in 2019-20, KSU posted a 10-17 record and finished tied for fifth in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) West division with a 7-12 league record.
In the only previous meeting between the two schools 46 years ago, Wesley Cox scored 28 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to lead five double-figure scorers as Louisville beat Kentucky State 106-93 in the 1975 Louisville Holiday Classic (12-26-75). Cox made 13-of-18 shots from the field in a game where Ricky Gallon added a double-double for the Cardinals with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Kentucky State finished 23-6 that season.
Louisville has won its last 37 straight in-season exhibition games, a span stretching the last 20 years (since 2001). The Cardinals last dropped an exhibition game on Dec. 2, 2000 when falling 87-86 in double overtime to a Global Sports team in Freedom Hall.
Louisville achieved a 13-7 record in a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season as the Cardinals finished seventh in the ACC with one of the least experienced teams in the nation. Louisville returns three of its top five scorers and five of its top eight. UofL was picked to finish sixth in the ACC in the 2021-22 in a preseason media poll with Duke as the league favorite. Malik Williams was honored on the 12-person preseason All-ACC Team as a second team selection.
Notes
- Kentucky State is the eighth in-state school that the Cardinals have played in an exhibition game over the last 17 years. UofL has previously faced Simmons, Kentucky Wesleyan, Pikeville, Georgetown, Lindsey Wilson, plus Northern Kentucky and Bellarmine when they were in NCAA Division II.
- The Thorobreds have won three NAIA national championships in men's basketball in 1970, 1971 and 1972.
- Kentucky State head coach Jamaal Jackson is in his sixth season at his alma mater with a 41-72 record. During Jackson's first season with the Thorobreds, his team averaged 84.5 points per game, leading the SIAC in scoring.
- Located in Frankfort, Ky., 56 miles from the UofL campus, Kentucky State is the alma mater of College Football Hall of Fame member John Merritt, who coached at Jackson State (1952-62) and Tennessee State (1963-83); Council Rudolph, who played six seasons in the NFL as a defensive end; and Elmore Smith, who played eight seasons in the NBA, helped KSU win the 1970 and 1971 NAIA National Championships, and was inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in September 2021.
- Louisville has eight newcomers among its 14 scholarship players. The group includes six transfers, including two from junior colleges, and two freshmen.
- Entering this year, a graduate transfer has started in the Louisville backcourt in each of the last three seasons and four of the last six. On four occasions in the last six years, a graduate transfer guard has either led or been among the top two scorers for the Cardinals.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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