Cards Struggle Offensively in Loss to No. 21/20 Texas Tech

Tuesday, November 22

Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

University of Louisville

0-5,0-0ACC

#21/20 Texas Tech

4-1,0-0Big 12

Texas Tech

Louisville

Cards Struggle Offensively in Loss to No. 21/20 Texas Tech

November 22, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)VIDEO: Louisville Postgame Press Conference

By: Zach Greenwell

LAHAINA, MAUI, Hawaii — The Louisville men's basketball team struggled mightily to score Tuesday, falling 70-38 to No. 21/20 Texas Tech in the consolation bracket of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

The Cardinals (0-5) shot just 22.4% from the field, and a scoring drought of more than 10 minutes across the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half allowed Texas Tech (4-1) to pull away with a 25-0 run.

"The lesson in it, you know, us coming to Maui was to walk away and learn about ourselves," UofL head coach Kenny Payne said. "And the two things I take away from Arkansas and Texas Tech so far, their defense, their ability to create turnovers. It's not about how skilled they are. It's about their will. They imposed their will on us consistently throughout the whole game and we turned the ball over and we shot a bad percentage because of them. We have to learn from that and we have to play the similar way as they played. I thought when we pressed and got after them in the second half a little bit we created some of that same type of energy that they have defensively toward us."

Louisville trailed just 15-11 after a pair of free throws by redshirt freshman Mike James with 8:56 left in the first half, but the Red Raiders answered with five straight points.

UofL's final basket of the half came on a layup by senior guard El Ellis with 4:23 remaining. Texas Tech scored the final 12 points of the frame for a 32-13 lead, then poured on 13 straight to open the second half and make it a 45-13 advantage.

"I would say talking more collectively," junior forward JJ Traynor said. "I feel like, even myself, I find myself not talking as loud or as much as I should. I feel like working on that and then just
being more desperate, just fighting more, I feel like."

Louisville finally snapped the skid with a putback by senior forward Sydney Curry at the 14:12 mark.

Texas Tech's lead continued to grow, however, reaching 38 at 58-20 with 6:47 to play.

The Cardinals went on an 11-0 run to briefly cut into their deficit until the Red Raiders cut it off with their own 7-0 spurt.

"It's a tough position to be in, you know, with the clock ticking down, but shout goes out to the last group that finished out the game for us," redshirt junior forward Jae'Lyn Withers said. "I mean, it's a tough position to be in, but they fought to the very end.

Ellis and Withers paced Louisville with seven points each. Kevin Obanor scored 15 points to lead Texas Tech.

The Cardinals will conclude play in Maui against either Ohio State or Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday in the seventh-place game on ESPNU.