Second Half Surge Leads to Louisville Loss

Sunday, December 8

LOUISVILLE, KY

6 p.m.

University of Louisville

5-4,0-1ACC

#9 Duke

7-2,1-0ACC

Duke

Louisville

December 08, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score VIDEO: Pat Kelsey Press Conference VIDEO: Terrence Edwards Jr./J'Vonne Hadley Press Conference Box Score (PDF)

No. 9 Duke defeats UofL 76-65 on Sunday evening in ACC opener

By: Dana Brown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville men's basketball led for nearly 30 minutes of the game, but a second half run by No. 9 Duke gave the Blue Devils the 76-65 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday evening in the KFC Yum! Center.

"Give Duke a lot of credit," said head coach Pat Kelsey. "They're a very, very good team. Coach Scheyer is doing an unbelievable job with them. They're very talented, they're very well-schooled. They have a very difficult system to guard with really, really good players. Have a lot of respect for their program and for Jon and his staff. You know, we got our butts kicked the other night against Ole Miss and really challenged our guys the last several days. We focus on, harp on and emphasize the daily process, the next thing being the most important thing and clean some stuff up from the Ole Miss game. We had a couple really good days of preparation."

"And I was proud of our guys' response," continued Kelsey. "You know, we were up for the challenge tonight, came out played really well in the first half, but didn't sustain it. The first half we held them to 36 percent from the field and 27 percent from three and then it was 55 percent in the second half. I think it's a six-point game at the eight-minute media (timeout). We were right there; we just needed a couple of stops and knock down a couple of big shots. We weren't able to get stops, had some open looks and didn't knock them down. You give Duke credit. They stepped up in the crucial part of the game and got some stops and made some really, really big shots. Disappointing how the second half went. Got a quick turnaround getting ready for a good UTEP team on Wednesday. Got to turn the page and go back to work tomorrow, clean this one up and start preparing for the next one."

The Cardinals opened the game on a 10-3 run to take a quick seven-point lead. Louisville then used a 12-2 run to take a 24-12 edge by the 10:43 mark. The 12-point run was four 3-pointers scored by four different Cards: Chucky Hepburn, Khani Rooths, Terrence Edwards Jr. and Reyne Smith.

Both teams went stale towards the end of the first half, going a combined 0-for-11 from the floor in the last three minutes. Duke ultimately scored the final six points of the half between 3:53 and 3:21 to cut the Louisville advantage to just 37-33 at halftime.

The Cardinals led the second half until Duke went on an unstoppable 18-2 run. The run spanned four and a half minutes and split the game wide open, going from a 55-50 Louisville lead to a 68-57 Blue Devil edge with just under six minutes to go.

Duke didn't miss between 12:25 and 7:08 in the second half, making nine in a row in that span.

Cards led the second half until Duke became nearly unstoppable, going on an 18-2 run that spanned four and a half minutes to give the Blue Devils a 68-57 lead with 5:42 on the clock.

Smith banked in a 3-pointer at 2:26 to try and get Louisville back in the game, but Duke rattled off four free throws and a bucket to ice the conference opener.

Duke scored 20 points off of 15 Louisville miscues and outscored the Cardinals in the paint 34-14.

Edwards Jr. was the leading scorer for the Cards with 21 points, netting 3 of 4 beyond the arc. Rooths did it all on Sunday evening with a career-high 10 points and six boards.

The Blue Devils were led by Cooper Flagg who went 8 of 17 from the floor to score 20. He made it a double-double with 12 boards.

Louisville has a quick turnaround to take on UTEP on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the KFC Yum! Center. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX.