Isaac McKneely drilled seven 3-pointers to help No. 6 Louisville build a big lead and hold off No. 11 South Florida 83-79 on Thursday in an NCAA Tournament first-round matchup at Buffalo, N.Y.
McKneely matched his season high of 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Ryan Conwell added 18 points with six assists and Sananda Fru notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinals (24-10), who won their first NCAA Tournament game since 2017. They will face No. 3 seed Michigan State on Saturday.
“From the get-go, on both ends, I thought our defense was really good,” McKneely said. “When our defense is really good, we’re getting out in transition, we’re getting 3s, dunks, layups, whatever it is. My teammates did a great job finding me early in the game.”
Joseph Pinion (career-high 27 points) and Izaiyah Nelson (22) scored 22 and 15 points, respectively, in the second half as the Bulls (25-9) shot 47.6% after halftime but saw their 11-game win streak snapped.
South Florida’s leading scorer, Wes Enis (16.8 points per game), managed just four points on 2-of-15 shooting, including 0-for-11 from 3-point range. The Bulls made just 5 of 33 perimeter shots (15.2%).
The Cardinals, who shot 53.8% from the floor and 52% from 3-point range, appeared destined for a stress-free victory when they led by 22 with 11:23 left. But they got careless with the ball, committing 10 of their season-high 22 turnovers over the final 9:39.
“It was the longest 10 minutes of my life, there’s no question about it,” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said. “We haven’t played against a team like that, that has pressed us like that. So it was a heck of a test on a really, really big stage. Fortunately, we came out on top.”
The Bulls cut that deficit to six points with 1:58 left. Pinion missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds that could have made it a three-point game.
After a slow start from both teams, Louisville took command with a 19-4 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from four different players, to jump ahead 24-11 with 8:31 left in the half.
The Bulls missed 12 straight shots during that stretch to start 4-of-24 from the floor. South Florida heated up a small bit but still shot just 28.6% from the floor, including a ghastly 1-of-17 from 3-point range, as the Cardinals took a 37-27 lead into the intermission.
McKneely led Louisville with 11 first-half points anchored by making 3 of 4 threes. Nelson led South Florida with seven points.
After the Bulls cut the deficit to eight points early in the second half, the Cardinals again responded, this time going on a 16-4 surge to push their advantage to 20 with 14:26 left.
“We felt like coming in that we had a chance to beat them,” Bulls coach Bryan Hodgson said. “We obviously did not play well. A big part of that is they did a great job guarding us, and we shot ourselves in the foot in the second half getting down 23. In the first half didn’t really put ourselves in a position to win the basketball game.”
–Field Level Media
