Cards Win 76-61 Over Winthrop

Friday, November 22

Louisville, Ky.

7 p.m.

University of Louisville

3-1,0-0ACC

Winthrop

4-3,0-0Big South

Winthrop

Louisville

November 22, 2024 | Men's Basketball

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Louisville shot 48.1% from the floor on its way to victory

By: Dana Brown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville men's basketball closed its four-game homestand with a victory over head coach Pat Kelsey's former team, the Winthrop Eagles, 76-61 on Friday night in the KFC Yum! Center.

"It was an emotional game in a lot of ways for me for many years," said Pat Kelsey. "I was in Rock Hill for many years. I had my kids there. Looking down the court and seeing Mark (Prosser), who is like a brother to me, and we coached together for many years. I tried not to get sentimental throughout the course of the preparation and instead just focus on getting ready for a team. There were moments when my former players would walk in – the first point guard I ever signed, the first player I ever signed, just on and on and on. It was an emotional game."

"I have so much respect for that institution and so much respect for Mark Prosser. He is a phenomenal coach and a world-class person. That team is really good and will make some noise in the conference. I believe that. It is mirror images in a lot of ways. They value a lot of things that we value – great toughness, tenacity, challenge you on the glass, drive the ball at you, put foul pressure on you and play really fast. Our guys do that as well. We played hard. I thought we defended at a really high level."

Both teams had a slightly stagnant start to the game; the contest was tied up at 10-all at the 9:39 mark. Louisville (3-1) was able to go on a 14-3 run over the course of three minutes to take a 26-16 lead with 3:57 on the clock. The run included four straight points from freshman Khani Rooths that gave a spark to the Cardinals' offense.

Louisville's last six points of the half were at the hands of Reyne Smith. That run included the second time this season a Cardinal has completed a four-point play. UofL led 35-27 at the break.

The Cardinals held up defensively with seven blocked shots in the first half, the most in a half since also blocking seven in the first half against Florida State on March 7, 2018. The Cards would end the night with 10 total blocks, the most since that same Florida State game.

Winthrop (4-3) attacked Louisville out of halftime, as K.J. Doucet scored the Eagles first 11 points of the second half.

Louisville was able to keep Winthrop at an arm's length even as the Eagles strung together 10 straight between 4:12 and 3:01 to cut the Cardinal lead to just 10 points. UofL held Winthrop scoreless for the final 1:48 of the game.

While Louisville outrebounded Winthrop 44-41 overall, the Eagles pulled down 19 offensive boards to the Cardinals 10, scoring 16 second chance points.

The Cardinals were led by Smith who went 5 of 9 from 3-point range, scoring 20 points and pulling down three boards in his 28 minutes of action. James Scott and J'Vonne Hadley both scored 12 points, and Hadley notched the first double-double of his Louisville career with 13 rebounds as well.

Kelton Talford was the leading scorer for the Eagles with 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting.

Louisville will now travel to Paradise Island, Bahamas for the Battle4Atlantis beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 27. The Cardinals open the tournament with no. 16/18 Indiana at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.