Cardinals Claim First Exhibition 94-45 over Kentucky State

Friday, October 29

LOUISVILLE, KY

7:00 PM

University of Louisville

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Kentucky State (exhibition)

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Kentucky St.

Louisville

Cardinals Claim First Exhibition 94-45 over Kentucky State

October 29, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Box Score Postgame Quotes Chris Mack Postgame Samuell Williamson Postgame El Ellis Postgame Game Highlights

By: Kenny Klein

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville men's basketball team cruised to a 94-45 victory behind a total team effort over Kentucky State as five Cardinals scored in double figures in the first exhibition game of the 2021-22 season Friday night at the KFC Yum! Center.

Noah Locke posted a game-high 15 points for the Cardinals as Jae'Lyn Withers tallied 14 points and a team-high 15 rebounds with Samuell Williamson adding 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jalon Andrews led the Thorobreds with 13 points and four rebounds.

The Cardinals got off to a fast start, jumping out to an 11-3 lead after Dre Davis hit an open three. The Thorobreds held their own for the first five minutes of the game, staying within 10 points before UofL broke the game open.

"It's an exhibition and I know our guys were excited to play somebody in different uniforms," said UofL Head Coach Chris Mack. "I thought for us, our first half was much more crisp. We were closer to who we need to be, at least at this time of the year.

Locke and Jarrod West hit back-to-back threes to put the Cards up 22 as they took a 30-8 lead with 8:32 remaining in the half. Withers closed the half with an offensive rebound and scored the put back with 47 seconds left to put the Cards up 44-12 as they headed into the locker room with a 32-point lead. Matt Cross led the Louisville defensive effort, recording two steals and two blocks in the half with Locke leading the offense with 11 points.

"I thought that Malik Williams really got us off to a good start; played with great energy, rebounded the ball," said Mack. "He's got a great voice for us on the defensive end, and Jarrod does as well. I thought Sydney Curry was a big plus for us. I thought he played physical. He's come a long way with his ball screen defense and his ability to communicate to the guards."

Kentucky State came out strong in the second half, outscoring Louisville 9-7 going into the first media timeout. The Cardinals used the timeout to their advantage, pushing their lead to 35 before the second media timeout. From there, UofL never let off the gas, extending the lead to a game-high 50 points after Withers hit a step-back three and a layup in back-to-back possessions. El Ellis showed flashes of speed and athleticism as he scored 10 of his 12 points in the half.

Despite a 40-point advantage most of the second half, Louisville maintained solid defensive pressure while also extending its lead. The Cardinals shot 57 percent in the second half, making 20-of-35 shots, including four three-pointers.

Louisville shot 46 percent from the field and 36 percent from behind the arc for the game while grabbing 62 total rebounds, 23 of which came on the offense end. The Cardinals racked up 20 points off 19 KSU turnovers.

Up next, UofL welcomes West Georgia for its second exhibition game on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. ET at the KFC Yum! Center.

Postgame Quotes

University of Louisville head coach Chris Mack:
(Opening statement) "It's an exhibition and I know our guys were excited to play somebody in different uniforms. I thought for us, our first half was much more crisp. We were closer to who we need to be, at least at this time of the year. I thought our second half, especially the first eight to ten minutes, wasn't very good and that needs to improve. I thought that Malik Williams really got us off to a good start; played with great energy, rebounded the ball. He's got a great voice for us on the defensive end, and Jarrod does as well. I thought Sydney Curry was a big plus for us. I thought he played physical. He's come a long way with his ball screen defense and his ability to communicate to the guards. Then Sam Bearden did a good job at the end. You know, Sam never gets a rep and for him to go in there and run two out-of-bounds plays perfectly: it says something when a guy knows what he's supposed to do when he never gets in there to do it. We've got a long way to go. I knew I'd say this regardless of what the outcome was, but, we're a work in progress just like a lot of teams this time of year."

(About the first half tempo and the spacing on offense) "I thought the spacing was pretty good. I think there were some times where a few of our guys needed to run harder, and they'll see that on film. We've got to get that corrected. Everyone says they want to play fast, but they don't want to run fast to be able to play fast. I thought our spacing was really good. It allowed us to shoot almost 20 Free throws in the first half. If you have clogged spacing, drivers are going to bobble the ball and fall over their teammates because of where we spaced one another. I thought that was a byproduct of that. We also got some five or six made threes in the first half along with two (attempts) being fouled. That's a big part of our spacing."

(About Kentucky State is a D-II school: smaller in size, weight, and everything else. What did you see from them that impressed) "They've got good size. You look down their roster and in warmups, they don't look like a Division-II team with their size. I thought in the second half they played with a little less nerves than maybe they started the game off with. I think they scored six or seven times in a row to start the second half and we'll look at it through our lens more than theirs, but give their kids credit not just coming out and folding. Disappointing on our end, that start to the second half, but you give your opponent credit when they when they do good things."

(About what are the things UofL is looking at in terms of performance and earmarks from an exhibition) "How do I put this? I just want us to be the same team that we are in practice. And obviously you want to be effective, either end of the floor, everything that you stress, everything that you coach. When a guy goes rogue because all of a sudden the lights are on, it sends a weird message to his teammates, not really sure how to play and I thought in the first half, like I said our spacing was excellent, I thought our defense by and large was pretty good. But, we didn't come out with that same readiness in the second half. I will say that it's a lot easier to watch it on film, and correct some of the things we've been talking about. I mean, you're trying to watch all five guys, you're trying to watch what the other team's running. But I'll say that we were trying to do what we want to do. And I thought for the most part, our guys were themselves and that's that's what we wanted to see."

(About what the Cardinals got out of the matchup with Kentucky State) "To just get better. The game is not over for us. We are going to watch the film, we will show our team clips. That is where we will get a lot of good learning. A guy knows when he leaves his feet on defense, he knows it. But maybe he doesn't recognize that he is two steps out of position when the ball is on the right wing and his man is at the top of the key. Maybe he thought he did a good job of defending the ball screen but wasn't aggressive enough. So there are a lot of things that we will be able to point to on film that we will continue to grow from so I don't feel the game is over because we are still learning from it.

(About if there is a certain time on the shot clock that is ideal to get a shot off) "Whenever we get what we feel is a good shot – that can be one or two seconds into the shot clock or 29 seconds into the shot clock. Trying to squeeze out every bit of opportunity once we have the ball whether it is a made shot or a missed shot and that doesn't happen if we jog up the floor. So we are spreading and trying to get to the corners, we are trying to play off spacing and trying to squeeze as much as we can off of transition. Offensive efficiency will tell you that is where it is the most hard to guard people is in transition. We have to make better decisions. I think we will. We need to finish better around the basket. There is not really a 'this is when we want to score'. We just always want to be looking in search of the best shot we can get."

(On underestimating opponent) "I never underestimate an opponent. It was hard to even estimate them though because they only played four games last year, and they had 10 newcomers."

(On turnovers) "We've seen it in practice. This (the turnovers) wasn't unexpected. We have to cut those down. There's a difference when you have an aggressive turnover, guys trying to drive in the gap, making a play, versus the casual turnovers. We had way too many casual turnovers tonight. Those have to be eliminated. I suspect that if those were eliminated, the turnovers would have probably gone from 17 to 12. I would have taken 12 turnovers every day of the week. But it was 17. We need to figure out why we turned it over and get some of our guy's less casual handling the ball."

(Follow up on turnovers and how many are acceptable) "That remains to be seen. I've always had in my mind as a coach, "12 turnovers or less". But we are trying to play way faster than we have since I've been here."

(On defensive effort) "I was disappointed the second half. It could just be guys relaxing, playing the score, and not being mature enough. You always credit your opponent as well. Those guys hit some shots. I thought we played with our hands down in the second half. It's hard to see how much energy and feel how much energy we have with their voices. We were coming off halftime after guys played the first half where their legs aren't where they need to be to start the half."

(On full-court press) "I think Jared gave their point guard some trouble. We're going to pick up full court this year and sometimes that'll be just Jared, and sometimes that'll be our whole team. We want to utilize Jared. He's such a weapon defensively. He loves that end of the floor. He sets the aggressiveness of our defense."

(Offensive spacing and Locke being in the right spot) "Maybe Kentucky State doesn't know who Noah is. The closer that you respect him and the more that you don't leave him, driving lanes to tend to open up. I think we have a team that's willing to fly the ball around and get the ball to the open man. Our offense in the half-court is predicated on the ability to play off an advantage and not let that advantage become a disadvantage or a neutral situation. Noah has the quickest release on the team, he's our best shooter. I want him to shoot it every time, where other guys may not shoot that shot every time."

(About UofL's spacing) I think maybe Kentucky State doesn't know who know who Noah (Locke) is. The closer that you respect him and more that you don't leave him driving lanes tend open. We have a team that's willing to fly the ball around and get the ball to the open man. That's what our offense in the half court is predicated on. The ability to play off an advantage and not let that advantage become a disadvantage or a neutral situation. So, the ball hops when it should. At least, we want it to in those situations. Noah's got the quickest release on the team. He's the best shooter so I want to shoot it every time. Where other guys may or may not shoot that shot every single time."

(On El Ellis) "I thought El was really good in stretches. He's got a way to go defensively. Tonight he ends up with, I think, two turnovers – that's been an issue with El in the preseason a little bit. I always say to our staff that he's going up against Jarrod [West] every day… So, it was really good to see him. He's electric, he's got the ability to finish. Tonight was not an exception, I see it every day in practice. He gets to the rim and he has an uncanny ability of putting his
shoulder on you. Even though he looks slight, he's so athletic and he finishes well. I love a couple of the passes that he saw out of the sides of his eyes to open shooters. That's great when you can have two point guards to pace each and bring the same type of energy but a different skill set. That was a good game for El for sure."

Kentucky State Head Coach Jamaal Jackson
(Opening statement) "I told the guys I was pleased with our half-court defense. When they were missing, we were staying in front of guys contesting shots. But their offensive rebounds and second-chance points killed us. They had 26 second-chance points. That destroyed us early in the first half and we couldn't get back in the game. After that our offensive execution was poor. But that was to be expected with so many new guys playing together and us narrowing down our rotation. You can't win any game, let alone beat a top team in the country shooting the percentages that we did."