Cards Cruise to 93-45 Victory Over Morehead State

Monday, November 4

Louisville, Ky.

7 p.m.

University of Louisville

1-0,0-0ACC

Morehead State

0-1,0-0OVC

Morehead St.

Louisville

November 04, 2024 | Men's Basketball

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Pat Kelsey opens career at Louisville with a win

By: Dana Brown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The inaugural season for Louisville men's basketball under head coach Pat Kelsey begins with a victory as the Cardinals took down Morehead State 93-45 on Monday night in the season opener at the KFC Yum! Center.

"I am proud of our players," said head coach Kelsey on the win. "I thought they played really hard and paid attention to details on scouting reports meticulously over the last few days. We have an old, mature that amaze me in their attention to detail and focus and scouting reports. They did that for Young Harris and they did that for Spalding and they did that tonight for Morehead. I am 100 percent sure they will do the same thing for this huge, huge game here at the Yum! Center that the nation will be looking at as we get ready for a very, very good and well-coached team – a hall of famer – here on Saturday. I am looking forward to it. We are fortunate to have that opportunity and looking forward to it."

UofL used an 18-3 run over the course of nearly nine minutes to go up 27-8 on the Eagles. The Cardinals strung together 11 straight points to cap that run that included three 3-pointers from three different players: Kasean Pryor, Chucky Hepburn and J'Vonne Hadley.

The Cards closed the half with a 10-1 run to extend their lead to 27 points at halftime, the largest margin of the game to that point.

For the entire first half, Louisville locked down on defense and held Morehead State to just three made field goals after attempting 28. With a score of 41-14 at halftime, it was the first time Louisville held an opponent to fewer than 20 points in a half since holding Evansville to 16 in the first half on Nov. 25, 2020.

Louisville used two 8-0 runs during the second half to continue extending its lead. Once, the Cardinals scored eight straight in a minute and 25 seconds lead 60-23. Then again, UofL scored eight straight, including back-to-back 3's from Reyne Smith, to take its advantage all the way to 50 points with just over three minutes remaining.

The Cardinals held Morehead State to a 23.1% field goal clip as the Eagles netted only 12 shots from the floor. Louisville forced 21 Eagle turnovers while only turning the ball over themselves on five occasions.

Pryor logged his first double-double in the Cardinal uniform with 18 points and 12 rebounds. He also dished out four assists and logged three steals. Hadley and Smith joined him in double figure scoring with 15 and 12, respectively.
Kenny White Jr. led the Eagles in scoring with 14 points on 4 of 9 shooting.

Louisville will be back at home on Saturday at noon to host No. 12 Tennessee in the KFC Yum! Center. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.