| Game Summary: EA Sports | Score: Louisville 90, EA Sports 78 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Luke Whitehead (25) EA Sports: Mike Chappell (19) |
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| The Cardinals return to Freedom Hall to open the 2004-04 season with a 90-78 exhibition win over EA Sports. Coming into the game, and this will be a theme for the entire season, the Cardinals were most concerned with being outmanned in the frontcout. But those fears were put to rest, at least for this game. After suffering a bruised heel, center Kendall Dartez bounced back from an 0-4, one-rebound first half to hit 6-11 shots, pull down four rebounds and finish with 13 points. A key focus of the game for Pitino was to get several of the newcomers their first taste of action in Freedom Hall. Even walk-on Brad Gianiny hit a late three-pointer, while junior college tranfer Nate Daniels had six points and freshman point guard Brandon Jenkins had two points. Junior college transfer Nouah Diakite sat out the game due to eligibility questions. |
But it was U of L's stars the propelled the Cards to victory. Senior Luke Whitehead opened with a double-double, leading all scorers with 25 points to go with 11 rebounds. Francisco Garcia had 20 points on 7-9 shooting, while Taquan Dean had six points, seven assists, seven rebounds and only turnover.  |
| Game Summary: Asheville Attitude | Score: Louisville 73, Asheville 59 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Francisco Garcia, Taquan Dean (17) Asheville Altitude: Desmond Penigar (18) |
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| U of L, playing without Nouah Diakite, who is still facing eligibility questions, and an injured Prileu Davis, used a 2-3 zone defense to force the Asheville Altitude of the National Basketball Developmental League into 26 turnovers and limited their shooting to only 34% from the field. U of L had 16 steals for the game. U of L made nine of its first 17 three-point shots, and held Asheville to only field goal in the first 11 minutes. Three-pointers from Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean capped a 25-5 run to give U of L a 38-13 lead. But the Altitude scored the last eight points of the first half, and the first five in the second half, leading to a U of L timeout and Pitino removing four of the Cards' second half starters. |
| U of L then went on a 13-3 run, fueled by a three-pointer and dunk by Alhaji Mohammed, and never led by less than 12 the rest of the way. Despite the win, concerns in the front court continue as Kendall Dartez and Otis George combined for only one point on 0-8 shooting as U of L was outrebounded 49-43. The Cards were hot from outside though, sinking 15 three-pointers compared to only 11 two-point field goals. Taquan Dean had 17 points on 5-9 three-point shooting, while Francisco Garcia also had 17 points with six assists. Larry O'Bannon had 10 points, while Luke Whitehead had nine points and nine rebounds. |
| Game Summary: Iowa | Score: Iowa 70, Louisville 69 (OT) |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Luke Whitehead (18) Iowa: Greg Brunner (26) |
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| For the second year in a row, the Cards opened their regular season in Indianapolis in the John Wooden Tradition against a Big Ten team, only to lose when a last-second shot failed to drop. It was a thrilling game, however, and one the Cardinals clearly can build on, though their weakness in the frontcourt hurt them dearly. Kendall Dartez and Otis George both fouled out in only 27 minutes of combined action, and between them had no points and no rebounds. This was extra costly because Iowa used its frontcourt strength to score time and again inside the paint, outscoring U of L there 40-18. Iowa also outrebounded U of L 45-32. Greg Brunner led all scorers with a career-high 26 points. |
| After a long three-pointer from Brody Boyd, who had 22 for Iowa, put the Hawkeyes up 55-47 with 8:28 remaining, Pitino went to a smaller line-up and shifted Whitehead to center. A Whitehead dunk off a lob from Nate Daniels capped a 7-0 Cardinal run; Whitehead had another double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. With 2:47 left and Iowa in the lead again at 63-58, Daniels scored on a a lay-up. Whitehead saved the ball from going out of bounds after a missed three-pointer by Taquan Dean, then got the ball back to Dean, who drilled a three to tie it with 53 seconds left. Dean finished 5-7 from three-point range and had 17 points on the game. Iowa missed two shots to win the game in regulation, but then scored the first six in overtime before Larry O'Bannon tied it with back-to-back three-pointers. On the game, U of L had 11 threes and 12 two-pointers, and at one stretch went 14 minutes without getting a field goal from within 17 feet.
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| With the score tied at 69, Dean found Whitehead along the baseline for a dunk, but it was discounted because he had stepped on the out of bounds line before making his move to the basket. Whitehead played all but 26 seconds of the game, most out of position in the center slot. Iowa's Pierre Pierce made one of two free throws with 9.2 seconds left to give the Hawkeyes a 70-69 lead. Pierce drew the fifth foul on Kendall Dartez after moving past O'Bannon, who twisted his ankle ealier in the possession. Francisco Garcia grabbed the rebound after Pierce missed his second free throw, drove the ball downcourt and fed it to Nate Daniels, who missed the open 10-footer. Dean was open in the corner, but Garcia, who had 17 points, didn't see him. Iowa kept U of L in the game by shooting a woeful 13-24 from the foul line. |
