UofL men’s basketball claimed a 106-59 exhibition win over Young Harris on Monday evening in the KFC Yum! Center.
“I thought it was great to be out there with the lights on,” said head coach of the Cardinals Pat Kelsey. “I told Josh (Heird) that I have coached hundreds and hundreds of games as a head coach. I have coaches in a bunch of NCAA tournaments and things like that – this preparation today and these hours leading up to this game might be the most nervous I have been as a head coach. I am just being honest. It was the culmination of a crazy seven months or so. Just to be out there for the first time, standing out there on those sidelines was so nice. The ovation that we got when we came out was great. Our guys jumped on them from the tip and banged a bunch of threes in the first half. We played really hard and got us off to a great start.”
The Cardinals opened the contest on a 16-2 run, holding the Mountain Lions scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of game action. UofL scored 10 unanswered points between 3:47 and 2:08 to extend first-half lead to 31 points with a score of 55-24.
Louisville closed the first half on an 18-3 run that included those 10 unanswered, kicked off by back-to-back Noah Waterman 3’s.
At the break, UofL led 63-27 over Young Harris. Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 22 of those 63 in the first half, sinking six 3-pointers on eight attempts.
Out of halftime, Louisville did not start as quick out of the gate but picked up the pace by the 15-minute mark. The Cardinals scored 12 unanswered points between 14:23 and 11:01 to go up by 47 with a score of 84-37. The run was made up of 3’s by Koren Johnson, Chucky Hepburn and Reyne Smith. It was capped by three points from sophomore James Scott.
The Cardinals led by as much as 50 in the waning minutes of the game.
Louisville’s 24 made 3-point field goals would surpass the program record of 22.
Eleven Cardinals ended up in the scoring column, led by Edwards Jr. who totaled 24 points. Smith was not far behind with 20 points of his own with six made 3’s. Hepburn and Johnson each had seven assists with a combined two turnovers between them.
UofL is due for its second and final exhibition next Monday against Spalding. The game will tipoff from the KFC Yum! Center at 7 p.m. ET.
Latest posts by Mark Blankenbaker (see all)
- Louisville Ranked #19 in College Football Playoff Poll - November 12, 2024
- GALLERY: #12 Tennessee 77, Louisville 55 - November 10, 2024
- Cards Fall To #12 Vols 77-55 - November 9, 2024