Cards Come Up Short Against Duke in ACC Home Opener

Tuesday, January 6

LOUISVILLE, KY

7 p.m.

University of Louisville

11-4,1-2ACC

#6 Duke

14-1,3-0ACC

Duke

Louisville

January 06, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes Pat Kelsey Press Conference Louisville Player Press Conference

Duke’s second half surge overcomes Cards

By: Zach Zsido

LOUISVILLE, Ky – The University of Louisville men's basketball team lost to Duke 84-73 in its Atlantic Coast Conference home opener at the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday night.

"I am very, very disappointed," said head coach Pat Kelsey. "The crowd was amazing. The atmosphere was ridiculous. I am very, very disappointed with our performance in the second half. Our defense? They shot 70 percent from the field and everything was at the rim. We started fouling and we weren't able to get out on transition because they'd be standing there on the free throw line. We are taking the ball out of the net. I thought that Caleb Foster was a game changer in the second half. We really, really struggled to keep him out of the paint. Obviously, we put most of our focus on No. 12 (Cameron Boozer) and we didn't do a good job in our one-on-one defense. They really attacked us down the middle with their pick and roll. We have to do a much better job than what we did. Our guys were in the locker room and I came in and addressed the team. I have my bullet points that I want to get across and talk about the path forward and what is going to happen in the next couple days. I really think this is a crucial, crucial point in our season. This is as much adversity as we have faced since we came together on June 5. The cohesiveness of our team, not splintering, sticking together and staying with the process and having a couple great days of preparation is really important in the next couple of days. As I began to address the team, J'vonne Hadley, Ryan Conwell and Kobe Rodgers, they did all of the talking. What they said was extremely encouraging. Player-led teams are way more powerful and way better than coach-led teams. I, as their coach, need to do a better job of putting them in a better position in the second half. It really, really hurt us in the middle of the floor. We were undisciplined. We didn't play with poise and fouled too much. Credit Duke. Credit Duke. I thought the second half, they took it right to us. They punched us in the mouth and true adversity hit."

The Cards (11-4, 1-2 ACC) used the starting lineup of Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely, Adrian Wooley, J'Vonne Hadley, and Sananda Fru for the fifth consecutive game.

UofL started the game out hot, with Conwell making three-consecutive shots from beyond the arc to give the Cardinals an early 9-3 lead 3:02 into the game. Duke answered by scoring six-straight points to tie the game at 12 with 15:00 left in the half. Louisville then went on a 27-15 run the next 12:46 to gain a 12-point advantage, their largest of the game.

The Cards stayed on top heading into the break, leading by nine with a score of 47-38. Conwell ended the half with 16 points, and Aly Khalifa finished with 12 points, both making four shots from deep to help UofL go 10-of-21 (47.6%) from the three-point line.

The Blue Devils started the second half with a 15-6 run, tying the game at 53 with 13:36 left in the game. The teams went back and forth the next 2:24, where the Cardinals earned a one-point advantage 60-59.

Duke (14-1, 3-0 ACC) regained the lead and never gave it back as they ended the game on an 25-13 run in the final 11:00 of regulation to win 84-73.

Conwell led Louisville with 24 points, going 8-of-19 from the field, notching four shots from the three-point line, while adding a team-high seven rebounds. Khalifa finished the game with 17 points, his most in a UofL uniform, including a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Cameron Boozer paved the way for the Blue Devils, scoring 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field, while grabbing a game-high eight rebounds. Isaiah Evans earned 23 points and added four steals. Caleb Foster scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

The Cards will stay at home to host Boston College this Saturday, January 10 at the KFC Yum! Center. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on The CW.