Louisville men’s basketball destroys Spalding in final exhibition

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Louisville men’s basketball program, which hosts local Division III foe Spalding next week for their second and final exhibition game prior to the start of the 2024-25 season, put together another dominant performance, winning 99-54 on Monday at the KFC Yum! Center.

Unlike their previous exhibition match last week against Young Harris College, the Cardinals did the vast majority of their damage inside the arc.

Louisville shot 27 of 37 on two-point attempts as part of a 58.3 percent field goal performance while attempting just 23 threes (and sinking eight). The week before, they attempted 56 three-pointers in their practice opener. The Cardinals also made plenty of trips to the free throw line, but went just 21 of 34 at the charity stripe.

Additionally, Louisville placed a noticeable defensive emphasis on high ball pressure. This in turn led to them forcing 28 Spalding turnovers, generating 21 steals and the Cards scoring 45 fewer points than turnovers. The Golden Eagles also shot just 36.4 from the field and 4-for-17 on threes.

The improved physicality on both sides led to some sloppier play than we had seen in the previous exhibition and in the Bahamas, but Louisville still did well with the overall ball movement. Although they turned the ball over 16 times, they assisted on 24 of their 35 field goals.

Louisville got a pair of 20-point scorers off the bench. Kasean Pryor finished with a game-high 26 points, while Koren Johnson added 20. Chucky Hepburn totaled nine assists, while James Scott had a team-best nine rebounds.

With the heavy emphasis placed on perimeter play and high ball pressure, Louisville looked a bit sloppy to open the match, scoring three goals in the opening segment alone. But with just a 9-6 lead just over four minutes into the game, the Cardinals started to find a groove and fired off a 12-0 run to put some distance between them and Spalding.

After they started to get into a groove offensively, they were able to really settle in defensively. In the final 10-plus minutes of the first half, Spalding went 0-for-9 from the field after the Golden Eagles opened 6-for-11, with the Cardinals also forcing 14 steals for the half. Combine that with 21-of-31 shooting on the court itself, and Louisville took a 53-21 lead into halftime.

Much like the first half, Louisville got off to a slow start to start the second half. They turned the ball over five times in the first five minutes of the period, allowing Spalding to shoot 5-of-7 during the period to open the half on a 16-8 run and cut the lead to just 24.

While the Cardinals shot just 14 of 29 in the second half, their defense did bounce back. The Golden Eagles shot 5-for-17 for the remainder of the half after their good shooting start to the period, and trailed by as many as 50 down the stretch.

Next, Louisville will host Morehead State for their 2024-2025 regular season opener. Tipoff against the Eagles is scheduled for Monday, November 4 at 7:00 PM EST.

(Photo by Kasean Pryor: Matt Stone – Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK)

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