Louisville Dominates at Pittsburgh

Saturday, January 17

Pittsburgh, Pa.

8 p.m.

University of Louisville

13-5,3-3ACC

100

Pittsburgh

8-10,1-4ACC

Louisville

100

Pittsburgh

January 17, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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No. 20/18 Cardinals lead wire-to-wire in the 100-59 win over the Panthers

By: Erin Hughes

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The No. 20-ranked University of Louisville men's basketball game posted its fifth 100-point showing of the season in a 100-59 win over Pittsburgh inside the Petersen Events Center on Saturday night.

With the win, Louisville improves to 13-5 and 3-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while Pitt drops to 8-10 with a 1-4 bid in the conference.

"I talked to [Pitt head coach] Jeff Capel right after the game, very brief, and I was just like, 'Man, it was just one of those nights.' We played really well. I was proud of our team," said head coach Pat Kelsey. "It was extremely player-lead. They were awesome the last couple of days in practice - they're always awesome in their professionalism and in their process and things like that. We've faced some adversity here recently, and the process in practice, the leadership was phenomenal. I mean, I went into some of these huddles tonight, and I just stood there until they were done talking. There were times the timeout was almost over and they were still talking, and I love that. This guy [Isaac McKneely] is one of them. The voices I heard, they were fixing stuff before it was broken. It was good. We've harped on playing desperate, and it helped the ball went in early, it got us off to a great start, but I told Coach Capel before the game too [that] watching his team play against Georgia Tech the other day on the road - just how desperate they played - and they really had our guys' attention just because of how tough and gritty they were in that game. It's just hard when somebody jumps on you like that, it kind of gets away from you a little bit, but [Pitt] is a dangerous team. I'm proud of our guys. We are fortunate to come out with a big road win."

UofL's 53 points in the first 20 minutes of play marked the seventh time Louisville posted 50 or more points in the opening half this season. The Cards spread the wealth tonight, matching a season-high 24 assists - the first time since facing Montana and fifth time this year.

As a team, Louisville shot 63% on the night, going 36-of-57 from the field and 15-of-29 from deep. UofL posted 35 rebounds and forced 10 turnovers while going 13-of-15 from the charity stripe.

Five different Cardinals scored in the double-digits, with Ryan Conwell leading the pack with 24 points and adding his eighth game scoring over 20 points. Conwell logged five 3s in the game and led the team with six assists. J'Vonne Hadley was the next highest scorer, grabbing 17 points while also grabbing seven boards, five assists, two steals and one block. Isaac McKneely and Aly Khalifa each posted three deep shots of their own, with McKneely going 2-for-3 at the line as well.

In the first four minutes of play, the Cards put up 13 points, with nine coming on three 3s by McKneely, and forced three Pitt turnovers to keep the Panthers scoreless until the under-16 timeout. McKneely was then fouled and made two of three shots from the line to get into double-digit points early for UofL.

Khalifa, Conwell, Hadley, Sananda Fru and Kobe Rodgers all added to a 15-1 Louisville run that elapsed 4:30 and held Pitt to zero field goals in over six minutes. With less than eight minutes left in the half, the Cards led 36-8 and the Panthers had yet to make it to double figures.

UofL continued to dominate as layups from Conwell and Hadley gave Louisville a 53-22 lead heading into halftime. The Cards shot 58% from deep, making 11 of 19 three-pointers, with six different players connecting from beyond the arc in the first half.

Conwell scored on three straight possessions to open the second half, including two makes from three-point range, and Hadley added two points of his own to pull the Cards ahead 66-34 at the first timeout.

Seven Cardinals helped maintain the pressure as Louisville grabbed its largest lead at 93-53 and on a 15-2 run over four minutes. Scores by Vangelis Zougris along with a jumper from Rodgers broke the 100-point mark, but Pitt added on right before the final buzzer to seal the score at 100-59.

Louisville will have a seven-day break before returning to the KFC Yum! Center to host Virginia Tech on Saturday, Jan. 24. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on The CW.