The Louisville Cardinals host a ranked team for the second time this week when the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils pay a visit on Sunday, and the Cardinals hope for a better outcome in the teams’ Atlantic Coast Conference opener.
Louisville (5-3) has lost two straight, including an 86-63 thrashing at home by No. 23 Ole Miss in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Tuesday. The visiting Rebels shot 56.7 percent and dominated inside with a 48-26 edge on points in the paint.
Tuesday’s game was the first for coach Pat Kelsey’s team without Kasean Pryor, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Oklahoma in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. The 6-foot-10 senior wing, a transfer from South Florida, was a key player early on for Louisville, averaging 12 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and blocking eight shots in seven games.
Pryor is the latest Cardinals player to go down with an injury. Before the season started, the school announced center Aly Khalifa and guard Kobe Rodgers would redshirt due to injuries.
Then just two games into the season, Aboubacar Traore broke his arm and Koren Johnson injured his shoulder. Traore is expected back this season, but Johnson announced earlier this week that he would also redshirt this season and undergo surgery.
Besides the injuries, the Cardinals are also struggling to hit 3-point shots, a key facet to Kelsey’s offense. Louisville entered Saturday 340th nationally in 3-point shooting percentage at 27.3 percent and seventh nationally averaging 31.6 attempts per game.
Despite the woes, Kelsey told reporters after the Ole Miss loss that he doesn’t plan to change his offense, adding that he believes in his players.
“The percentages even themselves out,” he said. “This has happened before. I just don’t want our guys to lose confidence, because I really, really believe in them. They’ll bounce back and be better on Sunday.”
The Blue Devils (6-2) won their SEC/ACC Challenge game on Wednesday, beating No. 2 Auburn 84-78 in Durham. Duke overcame a 13-2 deficit to get the Quadrant 1 victory on its resume.
Coach Jon Scheyer’s team shot 50 percent from the field and committed just four turnovers. It was just the 14th time in program history the Blue Devils had four or fewer turnovers in a game.
Freshman Cooper Flagg, a preseason All-American and a contender for national player of the year awards, leads the Blue Devils in scoring (16.6 ppg), rebounding (8.6 rpg), assists (4.1 apg) and blocked shots (1.4 per game). He scored 22, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out four assists in the win against the Tigers, but it was another freshman who stole the show.
Isaiah Evans came off the bench to score 18 points and hit 6 of 8 3-point shots. The guard averages 9.4 points per game but has only played in five games and has yet to play more than 17 minutes in a contest.
Scheyer told reporters after the win that Evans provided a “special moment” when his team needed a lift.
“To have that amazing courage to come into this game and do what he did — I’m not sure if I’ve ever been a part of something like that in my years here,” Scheyer said.
–Field Level Media
