Cards Claim Exhibition Win at Kansas - University of Louisville Athletic

Wednesday, October 21

Lawrence, Kan.

7 p.m.

University of Louisville

0-0,0-0ACC

Kansas (EXH)

0-0,0-0Big 12

Team	1	2	F
Louisville	36	53	89
Kansas	37	46	83

Box Score (PDF)

October 21, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Pat Kelsey Postgame Presser Photo Gallery

Jackson Shelstad scores 23 against the Jayhawks

By: Dana Brown

LAWRENCE, Kan. – University of Louisville exacted revenge from one year ago, defeating Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse in an exhibition contest 89-83 on Wednesday night.

"I can't believe it's the preseason," said Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey. "Can't believe that was an exhibition, because it sure as heck didn't feel like it. The atmosphere was amazing – obviously, one of the storied venues in the history of our game. There were storylines and all that stuff in an exhibition game, and when they came out and jumped on us early and went up 10-3 – I've been doing this a long time, and even if it is an exhibition, that's about as loud as I've heard an arena. Fortunate enough to get a win. Big thing is you come out of these, and both teams are healthy which I don't know both sides, but hopefully it was."

Kansas jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead after scoring seven straight points, starting at 16:53, and Kelsey called a timeout to stop the skid.

Louisville responded with five points by freshman Obinna Ekezie Jr., a layup from fifth year Seth Trimble and a game-tying jumper at the top of the key by senior Jackson Shelstad. The 9-2 Cardinal run forced the Jayhawks to burn their first timeout of the half, as UofL had created a tie-ball game at 17-all with 10:30 to play in the first half.

Out of the 30-second timeout, Kansas scored five unanswered points to regain a 22-17 lead by 8:47.

The Cards continued to fight back, stringing together a 7-0 run between 5:22 and 2:23 to tie it up once again, this time at 32-all. The Jayhawks didn't score a field goal for the final 5:36 of the game, only netting five free throws to take a narrow 37-36 lead into the break.

At halftime, Ekezie had team highs of seven points and six boards. Senior Jackson Shelstad scored seven points of his own to go along with two steals.

Out of the break, Louisville turned up the heat and took its first lead of the entire game. Junior Adrian Wooley knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers for the Cardinals, separated by a Kansas layup, and senior Álvaro Folgueiras piled on with another long ball from the left side of the court, resulting in a 46-42 UofL lead and forcing the Jayhawks to call a timeout.

Kansas' Tre White made a quick three after the timeout, but the Cards didn't let that slow them down. Shelstad took over with seven points on his own and when senior De'Shayne Montgomery sank two free throws, Louisville had gained an 11-point advantage at 56-45 with 14:03 to go.

The Jayhawks tightened the margin down all the way down to just five points at 8:50, 67-62, before Ekezie knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers. Kansas responded with a 9-2 run that cut its deficit down to just four points.

Beginning at 3:12, the Jayhawks strung together three free throws and two buckets to run the difference all the way down to two points. With Louisville in the lead 82-80 with 1:46 to play, Trimble sank three free throws, raising the score to 85-80.

Kansas' Keanu Dawes scored three points to get back within two points, but Louisville was able to ice the game with the charity stripe only, not making a field goal for the final 3:44, netting four free throws down the final 45-second stretch to win the exhibition game 89-83.

The Cardinals shot 64.3% from 3-point range in the second half, and 46.7% for the entire game. Kansas outscored Louisville in the paint 40-20, but the Cardinals' bench outscored the Jayhawks' 35-13.

Shelstad led the Cardinals in scoring with 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting. Ekezie led Louisville in rebounding with eight boards plus 16 points.

"With Flory [Bidunga] coming back, this place is very special to him," added Kelsey. "It was a difficult week for him, because he knew what he was walking into. Part of his heart is here and will always be here. And that made us better. We found out a lot about ourselves, which is what you want preseason games to do. There's never been an NBA game in the history of the National Basketball Association that had an exhibition with that kind of atmosphere and stakes – and maybe stakes is a bad word because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you won or lost – but it's what makes college basketball special and it was really cool."

University of Louisville will return home to the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday night for its final exhibition game. The Cardinals will take on Mercyhurst at 7 p.m. ET on ACCNX.