| Game Summary: Tennessee State | Score: Louisville 81, Tennessee State 63 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (24) Tennessee State: Garrett Richardson (20) |
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| Although it was an ugly game, the Cards bounced back from their 27-point trouncing at the hands of the Oregon Ducks. The Cards forced five turnovers before the first timeout, and grabbed a 9-0 lead to open the game. While Tennessee State never got closer than six the rest of the way, the Tigers, coached by Nolan Richardson III, son of the famous Arkansas coach, used a full-court trapping defense and a 2-3 zone to confound the Cards into making 26 turnovers to help keep the game close. A three-pointer by Simeon Naydenov gave U of L a 25-14 lead at the 11:08 mark of the first half, but the Cards managed only one field goal in the last four minutes of the first period to lead at halftime 45-35. |
Tennessee State went on a 7-2 run to pull within six early in the second period, but the Cards went on a game-deciding 25-9 run to take a 73-51 lead with 5:06 left to play. Reece Gaines, who led all scorers with 24 points by scoring 12 in each half hit, two of three three-pointers in the run to help fuel the Cards offense, while defense by Gaines, Joseph N'sima and Ellis Myles won praise from Coach Pitino. Myles had a record night: he scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds, the most for a Cardinal player in a single game since Wes Unseld in the 1967-68 season. Overall, U of L had a 58-36 edge on the boards, which led to a 17-1 advantage for U of L in second-chance points. Luke Whitehead was the other Cardinal in double-figures, scoring 13 points to go along with nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Bryant Northern started in place of the still-slightly injured Carlos Hurt, though both players saw five minutes of action. Garrett Richardson scored 20 points for Tennessee State, which shot only 4-22 from three-point range and committed 21 turnovers.  |
| Game Summary: Premier All-Stars | Score: Louisville 109, Premier All-Stars 97 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Erik Brown (20) Premier All-Stars: Mark Baker (21) |
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| Not only did this exhibition game not count on U of L's record, but the whole team didn't even play. Reece Gaines, Ellis Myles, and Hajj Turner did not get in the game, while Coach Pitino started four freshmen and sophomore Simeon Naydenov. Erik Brown led the Cards with 20 points on an impressive 4-6 shooting from three-point range. As a team, the Cards shot a season-best 13-31 from behind the arc, including a 5-10 effort from Carlos Hurt, who finished with 17 points and showed no remaining effects from an ankle injury suffered in the Oregon game. Brandon Bender also played well, finishing with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Luke Whitehead recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Larry O'Bannon also had 14 points. |
| Game Summary: Wisconsin-Milwaukee | Score: Louisville 90, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 75 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines, Larry O'Bannon, Luke Whitehead (15) Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Ronnie Jones (22) |
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| Coach Pitino called this game U of L's smartest of the year so far, and with a balanced scoring attack that put six players in double-figures, plus good ball control in committing only 11 turnovers, you can see why Pitino might say that. U of L actually fell behind in the first few minutes by scores of 7-0 and 13-8, but the Cards used a 17-0 run -- hitting on seven shots in a row-- to effectively put the game away. Carlos Hurt hit a wing-jumper and two three-pointers in the run, while Luke Whitehead scored on a fast-break lay-up to give U of L a 25-13 lead with 8:03 left in the first half. The Panthers went seven minutes without scoring, and from that point on, Wisconsin-Milwaukee got no closer than nine, and U of L led 43-31 at halftime. The Cards had 11 steals on the game, which helped to mitigate their 11 turnovers, which itself was far below the team's average of 19.3 a game. It was even more impressive considering the Panthers pressed the entire game, and changed defensive schemes on almost every Cardinal possession. |
| Several players put in very solid efforts. Hurt finished with 10 points, four assists, and only one turnover, although he struggled in the second half, shooting only 1-10 in the second frame. Quickly emerging as U of L's sixth man is Larry O'Bannon, who came in five minutes into the game, scored eight quick points, and finished with 15 points and three steals. Also, Luke Whitehead had 15 points, six rebounds, and three steals. U of L extended its lead to 20 early in the second half by starting the period with a 12-2 run. Ellis Myles had 12 of his game-high 15 rebounds in the second period, and matched with his 13 points, attained his third straight double-double. Myles left the game a minute early due to a leg cramp. The Panthers pulled within 64-52 at the 11:45 mark of the second half, but the Cards used a 10-3 run -- sparked by a Bryant Northern three-pointer -- to hold off the rally. Reece Gaines finished with 15 points, while Erik Brown had 13, including a perfect 3-3 from behind the arc. |
| Game Summary: Murray State | Score: Louisville 84, Murray State 69 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Luke Whitehead (30) Murray State: Justin Burdine (27) |
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| In a repetition of Friday's game, Coach Pitino lauded his U of L Cardinals with some pretty heavy praise after this game, calling the first half performance one of the top 10 halves of any team he's ever coached in terms of intensity and defensive pressure, and that is saying something. It was a first half that saw U of L jump out to a 10-0 lead and never look back, leading at the break 37-19. The Cards led by as many as 19 points in the opening period, and used their continuous full-court pressure to force Murray State into 12 turnovers and to miss 23 of their 30 shots. Luke Whitehead, who led all scorers with a career-high 30 points on 12-16 shooting from the field to go along with a career-high 10 rebounds and four dunks, had two of those dunks in the opening two minutes, while Reece Gaines, who tied his career-high with 28 points on blazing 6-12 shooting from three-point range, scored eight of U of L's first 14 points. The six three-pointers for Gaines was a career-best as well. |
| Whitehead had three baskets and Gaines a three-pointer as U of L opened the second period with an 11-4 spurt, but Murray State did make a run. The Cards led by as much as 26, but Murray State's Justin Burdine, who led the Racers with 27 points, scored 11 straight points to pull Murray State within 54-42 with 10:30 left in the game. After a Cardinal timeout, Whithead got a dunk and Gaines another three to extend the lead to 17, and Murray's hopes were squashed. Erik Brown was the only other Cardinal in double-figures, scoring 14 points, while Ellis Myles did not record a double-double, scoring only four points with 10 rebounds. |
| Freshman guard Carlos Hurt was suspended for the game for an unspecified violation of team rules. Sophomore Alhaji Mohammed started in his place, and split time with Bryant Northern. Also, it was reported that sophomore forward Mac Wilkinson may be transferring out of the program. He was not on the Cardinal bench for the second consecutive game. |
| Game Summary: Coppin State | Score: Louisville 75, Coppin State 49 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (20) Coppin State: Jimmy Boykin (18) |
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| The real story of the first ever meeting between the Cardinals and Coppin State Eagles was not the game itself, but the fall of forward Luke Whitehead at the opening of the second half. Whitehead went up for a lob dunk, scored on the play, but was undercut and fell on his head with his whole body contorting on the court. It was a frightening moment, followed by a few anxious moments as Whitehead lay on the floor. He never lost consciousness, but after his nose started bleeding he was taken to Jewish Hopsital, where all tests were negative. His status for future games is in the air, and he has been diagnosed with a back sprain. |
| The game itself wasn't as exciting, but just as unenjoyable to watch. Although U of L set a school record with 37 three-point attempts, they didn't make many of them: only 11. It was the defense that led to the Cards' 40-16 halftime edge, as their press provided 10 first half lay-ups and several dunks. Coppin State committed 20 first half turnovers on their way to losing their fifth straight game. Before going down with his injury, Whitehead had 11 points on 5-5 shooting, but it was guard Reece Gaines who paced U of L offensively, leading all scorers with 20 points on 6-11 three-point shooting to go along with six assists. Ellis Myles finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Bryant Northern, making his second straight start for the Cards, finished with 12 points on 4-10 shooting from three-point range. All of his field goals were three-point attempts. |
| U of L forced turnovers on the first nine of Coppin State's 13 possessions in opening a 10-2 lead. Leading 15-7 midway through the first period, the Cards used a 14-2 run -- fueld by two Reece Gaines three-pointers -- to take a demanding lead. Although the Cards shot only 46.9% from the field, there is greater concern in getting outrebounded 42-32 and shooting only 4-14 from the free-throw line. |
| Game Summary: Ohio State | Score: Louisville 66, Ohio State 61 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Ellis Myles (17) Ohio State: Brian Brown (12) |
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| Imagine this: the Cardinals shoot a pathetic 4-28 from three-point range, and an almost-as-bad 18-34 from the foul line, but yet still wind up winning. How? For the second straight game, defense. Ohio State, which had been a good shooting team coming into the game, made only 1-7 three-pointers themselves. Like the Cardinals, the Buckeyes set a school record with 37 three-point attempts in their last contest; against the Cardinals, Ohio State took only one three-pointer in the entire second half. In winning their first six games, Ohio State had shot 51.4% from the field; in losing their first game of the year (also their first road game of the year), they shot only 38.8%. |
| Ohio State led at the half 26-25, but it was an exciting second period, one which saw limited action for several U of L players. Luke Whitehead, coming off a terrible fall in Wednesday's game against Coppin State, started the game, but played only 12 minutes -- just two in the second half -- and had three assists, a rebound, and a steal but did not score. Reece Gaines was in foul trouble for most of the game, and missed almost the entire second half before returning with five minutes left in the game. Plus, freshman guard Carlos Hurt fouled out with seven minutes remaining and scored only three points. Ohio State led by two when Reece Gaines picked up his fourth foul with 17:09 left in the game. The Cards then went on a 15-6 run with a line-up of Hurt, Larry O'Bannon, Ellis Myles, Erik Brown, and Brandon Bender. Bender has his best game as a Cardinal, totaling a career-high 11 points plus eight rebounds. Myles had six points during the run, and a Bender lay-up gave the Cards a 44-37 lead with 12:16 left. Bender was a factor during the run and after it. He had three key assists in this time frame, one to an Ellis Myles hoop, another for a Carlos Hurt three, and then another to Myles, who led all scorers with 17 points. The Buckeyes pulled within one, then Bender dunked off a lob from Bryant Northern to start an 11-2 run that put U of L up 55-45 -- its biggest lead of the game -- with 5:25 left. |
| Gaines came back into the game at around the five minute mark with the Cards still comfortably ahead. But when Brian Brown, who lead Ohio State with 12 points, scored on a lay-up with 2:44 left, he started a 7-0 Buckeye run. Erik Brown fouled Boban Savovic on a three-point attempt with 1:35 left. Savovic made all three foul shots to pull Ohio State within one 59-58. Gaines then made a free throw, Ohio State committed a turnover at the 1:03 mark, then Gaines hit two more free throws with 39 seconds left. Gaines hit 5-6 from the charity stripe in the last 39 seconds, and the Cards made 11-16 free throws in the last 4:25, which helped the fact they did not score a field goal in that period. After an Ohio State miss and an Erik Brown rebound, Brown made one of two free throws, followed by two more Gaines free throws with 12 seconds left. |
| The Cards were outrebounded 44-40, but scored 19 points off of 16 Ohio State turnovers. Ohio State themselves shot only 22-33 from the charity stripe. For the game, Bender was a perfect 5-5 from the field, while Ellis Myles was 5-6 and had nine rebounds along with his 17 points. The rest of the Cards shot only 12-47. It was the Cards' first win over a Big Ten team since the 1997 season. |
| Game Summary: Tennessee Tech | Score: Louisville 70, Tennessee Tech 66 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (24) Tennessee Tech: Cameron Crisp (22) |
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| Coming off their dramatic win against Ohio State, the Cards showed a little fatigue against a Tennessee Tech team that was playing its first game in nine days. The Golden Eagles, the defending regular season champs of the OVC, were poised and ready to play, and put up a much tougher fight than their mid-major status might suggest. In fact, if it weren't for some clutch shooting by Reece Gaines and a key tip-in from freshman Larry O'Bannon, this one easily could have gone the other way. Tennessee Tech led by as many as seven in the first half, but had that lead trimmed to 37-36 at halftime. Although the Eagles outrebounded U of L 19-18 in the first half, Reece Gaines, who led all scorers with 24 points on a career-best six three-pointers, scored eight of 10 first half points in the final 9:38 of the opening period to keep U of L close. |
| Good defense by the Cards and cold shooting by Tech allowed U of L to build a six-point lead: a three by Gaines four minutes into the second half tied the game at 41, then Carlos Hurt, who finished with 12 points, scored five straight to give U of L a 46-41 advantage. Gaines then scored the Cards' next five points on a lay-up and three-pointer, helping U of L to a 51-45 lead. The Cards were then held without a field goal the next four and a half minutes, and Tennessee Tech pulled within 51-50 with neither team leading by more than three the rest of the way until the final seconds. With the game deadlocked at 60, Ellis Myles, who finished with nine points and 15 rebounds for the Cards, muscled his way to a basket and a 62-60 Cardinal lead with 2:44 left, but Tech then got a three-pointer from Leigh Gayden to go up by one with 2:01 remaining. |
| Then came the first of two key plays that won the game for U of L. After Bryant Northern missed a free throw, freshman Larry O'Bannon circled underneath and tipped in the miss to give the Cards the lead for good at 64-63. It was a tremendous play by O'Bannon. Each team then scored a free throw, and U of L had the ball with 20 seconds left. Reece Gaines faked a drive to the right, took two steps back, then drained a three-pointer to give U of L a 68-64 lead. Although Erik Brown was called for goaltending on a Cameron Crisp shot with 6.7 seconds left, Brown then hit two free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining to ice the game for U of L. Gaines was 4-5 on three-point shooting in the second half, and had four rebounds and four assists to boot. He seemed to hit a big three every time the Cards needed one. Luke Whitehead, still suffering from his fall in the Coppin State game, sat the game out. |
| Game Summary: Tennessee | Score: Louisville 73, Tennessee 72 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (22) Tennessee: Vincent Yarbrough (18) |
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| This game against the Tennessee Volunteers is certain to go down in Louisville basketball lore as one of the most exciting -- and unlikely -- finishes to a game in Freedom Hall. The Cards came back from six points down with just over 37 seconds left to win, and Reece Gaines, who continues to hit clutch three-point shots for the Cards, not only led the way in this one, but is making his mark as one of the most reliable, go-to men to wear a Cardinal uniform. After the performance he has put on in the last few games, it is not too quick to lump him into the category of Milt Wagner and DeJuan Wheat in terms of his ability to save the Cardinals in game-winning situations. It should be mentioned that the Cards hit three three-pointers in a row for the first time this season, all in the stretch of this game's final minute. |
| In a game that featured 11 ties and 17 lead changes, the Cards used a 7-0 run to take a 59-53 lead with 6:07 left in the ball game. U of L held onto that lead until Tennessee forward Ron Slay hit two free throws to give the Volunteers a 65-64 edge with 1:46 left. Slay, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, then drove the lane and converted on a three-point play to give his team a 68-64 lead with just under a minute to play. After a missed three-point attempt by U of L (one of many on the night: the Cards finished 7-31 from three-point range for 22.6 percent; they were only 40% from the field for the game), Tennessee built a 70-64 on two free throws by Thaydeus Holden with 36.5 seconds left. Then came the heroics by Reece Gaines and the unbelievable comeback. Reece Gaines pulled up for a 28-foot three-point shot from the right wing, and banked it in to pull U of L within 70-67 with 31.7 seconds left. On the inbounds play, Erik Brown, who broke out of a shooting slump to finish with 15 points, stole the pass, dished the ball to Brandon Bender, who found Bryant Northern open for a three near the top of the key. Northern's shot was good (giving him his only points on the night) and just like that the game was tied at 70. |
| The Volunteers kept their poise, though, and worked the ball inside to Marcus Haislip, who had 14 points and eight rebounds, who scored on a lay-up to put Tennessee ahead 72-70 with 7.4 seconds left. Gaines then drove the ball upcourt, pulled up at the top of the key, and swished through the last of his game-high 22 points to put U of L up for good 73-72 with 1.8 seconds remaining. He also hit the key three-pointer to seal the win over Tennessee Tech a few nights earlier. The game wasn't over, though. After a timeout, Vincent Yarbrough, who led the Vols with 18 points and also had nine rebounds, was guarded by Bender on the inbounds line. Slay set a pick, freeing up Yarbrough for his length-of-the-court pass to Haislip. Haislip had an open 10-footer from the right side, but it banked off the glass, off the rim and onto the floor, and the Cards remained undefeated at home, won their seventh straight game and their third over a team from Tennessee this season. |
| Although the Cards struggled from the field and the foul line, where they made only 6-14 attempts, they fought through it with gritty interior play and tough defense. Ellis Myles had nine rebounds and seven points, while Bender had six points, six rebounds, and two blocks in only 19 minutes of action. Carlos Hurt added 10 points for U of L, who committed only 14 turnovers compared to 21 by Tennessee, 18 of which came from their starting frontcourt. The Volunteers also had been shooting above 40% from three-point range, but wound up only 3-14 behind the arc as U of L continues to give itself a chance to win games by defending the perimeter well. Forward Luke Whitehead missed his second straight game, and is expected to be out at least a few more weeks to recover from a sprain in his shoulder. It should also be noted that several Cardinal fans headed to the exits after Tennessee built its six-point lead, but the never-give-up attitude of this team should prevent the urge to beat Freedom Hall traffic for the foreseeable future. |
| Game Summary: Eastern Kentucky | Score: Louisville 94, Eastern Kentucky 77 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (25) Eastern Kentucky: Shawn Fields (24) |
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| In the final game of its eight-game homestand marathon (the longest ever in Freedom Hall), the Cardinals continued their best start since the 1996-97 season, when they opened the year at 10-0. (At 9-1 and UK up next, is 10-1 possible?) The Cards scored 16 points off of 13 Eastern Kentucky turnovers in the first half to hold an 11-point halftime lead, 47-36. Bryant Northern scored all 12 of his points in the opening period to help U of L offset foul trouble to Joseph N'Sima, Ellis Myles, and Reece Gaines. After Eastern scored the opening hoop of the second half, Carlos Hurt scored on a driving one-hander, then passed to Reece Gaines, who led all scorers with 25 points on 9-17 field goal shooting (including 3-7 from three-point range), for a dunk, giving U of L its biggest lead of the game at that point, 51-38. |
| But after the Cards built a 20-point lead, 75-55, with 7:55 left, the wheels came off for the Cards. Eastern went on a 16-3 run in the next three minutes to make it a 78-71 game with 4:16 remaining. With 3:40 left, the Colonels hit two free throws to pull within 80-75, but when Eastern Kentucky's Shawn Fields, who led his team with 24 points, blew an open dunk and a chance to cut the lead to three, momentum shifted and the Cards put the got the game back under their control. Gaines scored on a three-point play right after the missed dunk, then scored off a pass from Joseph N'Sima, who had a double-double for U of L with 10 points and 10 rebounds plus three blocked shots, to make it 85-77 with 1:50 left. The Cards wound up finishing the game on an 11-0 run. |
| The Cards shot 50% from the floor for the first time this season, and put five players in double figures, including Gaines, Northern, N'Sima, Erik Brown who had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Carlos Hurt who finished with 10. For the first time in awhile, Hurt was back in the starting line-up. However, the Cards were outrebounded 54-38, and shot a paltry 15-29 from the charity stripe, though they did hold Eastern to a frigid 34% shooting night from the field, including a woeful 8-39 from three-point range. |
| Game Summary: Kentucky | Score: Kentucky 82, Louisville 62 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines, Carlos Hurt, Bryant Northern (10) Kentucky: Tayshaun Prince (18) |
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| Beyond the fact Cardinal coach Rick Pitino made his first trip back into Rupp Arena as the coach of U of L, and the fanfare and hoopla surrounding that, a game was actually played -- and it looked like nothing's changed, at least not at Rupp. For the second time in as many games in Lexington, U of L keeps it close in the first half, only to get utterly dominated and embarrased in the second period on their way to what was this time a 20-point loss, the seventh time UK has beat the Cards by at least 20 since the series started again in the mid-1980s. (It was also the second straight U of L-UK game in which U of L scored 62 points.) How surprising was the first half? Although Reece Gaines, who was in foul trouble the whole game and finished with only 10 points, scored only 2 points in the first half and played only 11 minutes, the Cards held UK to 37% shooting and outrebounded UK 24-20 in the first half to trail only 36-32 at halftime. To open the game, UK missed all but one of their first seven shots, while the Cards only hit two of their first seven. UK led 16-11 midway through the first half; the Wildcats went on an 8-2 run to take a 26-18 lead with 3:30 remaining. The Cards pulled to within 33-28 at the 1:30 mark after two free throws by Larry O'Bannon (the Cards shot 8-15 from the line for the game), and Erik Brown had the half's final two baskets, including a dunk, to keep the Cards in the game and down four at the half. |
| The second half was another story, as UK took control: by applying more intense defensive pressure, the Wildcats forced U of L into missing 13 of its first 16 shots in the second half, and by that time it was over. It was an almost total repeat as the 1999 game. After Carlos Hurt hit a three (U of L was 4-19 from behind the arc, though UK was only 6-25) to pull U of L to within 38-37, Tayshaun Prince, who finished with 18 points, and Keith Bogans, who tallied 17, took over and showed why UK is a Top 10 team. Combined, they scored 17 of UK's next 18 points. UK hit five of its first seven shots of the period, and by the first TV timeout led 48-37. After the timeout, Prince, who also had nine rebounds, scored on a lay-up and then a dunk to force a Cardinal timeout with 13:41 left.The Wildcats were up 54-39 eight minutes into the period, and the Cards were never as close as 13 the rest of the way. Up 63-50, the Wildcats then went on a 10-0 run to ice the game. |
| UK center Marquis Estill went 5-5 from the field and had 10 points, while UK's Gerald Fitch also scored 10. UK wound up outrebounding U of L 46-41, and the Cards shot only 36% from the field, 31% in the second half. Bryant Northern had 10 points for U of L but was terrible behind the arc, shooting only of 2-9. Hurt wound up with 10 points, while Ellis Myles scored only two. Forward Luke Whitehead played for the first time in three games, and was effective before he got into some serious foul trouble. Although he played only 14 minutes, it looks like he may be further down the road to recovery than was thought before the game. It was Joseph N'Sima who probably had the best day for U of L. N'Sima finished with eight points, seven rebounds, and an impressive 5 blocked shots. Erik Brown had nine points and nine rebounds, while Brandon Bender, in only 12 minutes of action, had four points, four rebounds, and three steals. |
