University of Louisville
Lenoir-Rhyne (EXH)
Cardinals Open Season Sunday with Exhibition vs. Lenoir-Rhyne
October 29, 2022 | Men's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville men's basketball program begins the road to its 109th season with its first of two exhibition games against Lenoir-Rhyne at 2 p.m. ET Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center. The game will stream on ACC Network Extra.
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The Cardinals enter their first season under new head coach Kenny Payne, the former UofL standout player and 1986 national champion. Payne has 17 years of college and NBA coaching experience.
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Louisville is coming off a 13-19 season that ended with a 51-50 loss to Virginia in the second round of the ACC Tournament. Lenoir-Rhyne is a Division II program in Hickory, N.C., that finished 10-18 a year ago.
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EXHIBITION 1
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Lenoir-Rhyne at Louisville
October 30, 2022 | 2 p.m. ET
KFC Yum! Center | Louisville, Ky.
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MEDIA INFO
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Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship); Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Bob Valvano, analysis)
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Watch: ACC Network Extra (Kent Taylor, pxp | Jody Demling, analysis)
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Live Stats: Louisville Stats
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PROMOTIONS/TICKETS
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Single-Game Tickets | Season Tickets
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• Cardinal players will sign autographs postgame
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TOP STORYLINES
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• Louisville has won 39 straight exhibition games, a span stretching the last 21 years (since 2001). The Cardinals last dropped an exhibition game on Dec. 2, 2000, with an 87-86 defeat in double overtime to a Global Sports team in Freedom Hall.
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• Lenoir-Rhyne is coached by former Louisville standout Everick Sullivan, the Cardinals' 16th all-time leading scorer. More information about Sullivan's career at UofL is available below.
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• The Cardinals competed in their annual Red and White Scrimmage on Oct. 23. The Red team won 68-51, led by El Ellis and Kamari Lands' 16 points each. Sydney Curry led the White with 18 points and 10 boards.
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• Louisville named a trio of captains in the preseason in returners Sydney Curry, El Ellis and Jae'Lyn Withers. Those three each started at least nine games for the Cardinals last season.
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• Sunday's exhibition will be Louisville head coach Kenny Payne's first event at the helm of a program. Payne is the only Division I men's basketball head coach in the country who was a NBA Draft pick, as well as a national champion as a player and a coach (including as an assistant).
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EVERICK SULLIVAN FILE
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Louisville's opening exhibition opponent, Lenoir-Rhyne, is coached by former Cardinal star Everick Sullivan.
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Sullivan played for the Cardinals from 1988-92 and is ranked 16th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,583 career points. He was a teammate for one season with current UofL head coach Kenny Payne.
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He made 126 appearances over four years with 94 starts, averaging 12.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals over his career. The Cardinals reached the NCAA Tournament three times in his playing tenure.
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Sullivan was named to the All-Metro Conference Second Team in the 1991-92 season.
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Following his college career, he played eight years professionally in Finland, Portugal, Slovenia, Poland, Puerto Rico, Cyprus and Lebanon. He's been the head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne since 2016.
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