The 16th season for Scott Davenport coaching the Bellarmine knights has started off well. As for Kenny Payne and his first season at Louisville? Not so much.
The Cardinals lost 66-67 to the Knights on Wednesday, a game Louisville should never lose. The two teams have now played a total of 13 times in the regular season. Louisville was 12-0, with their last matchup played in 2006. Now, the Cardinals are 12-1 and on a one game losing streak against the Knights.
There are many things to point fingers at as the cause of the loss. However, the main issue was the lack of effort and intensity during a majority of the game. Louisville started out with a purpose in both the first and second half, along with towards the end when they made a comeback and almost won. This purpose and intensity needs to become a constant though for the Cardinals if they want to be successful.
People saw this all last season during Chris Mack’s final season. It seemed as though the mentality was if the opponent made a run of any size, then Louisville had no chance to win. The players would get down and not play with any energy. Fans were hoping this was just something of the past and not of the future, but their wish did not come true.
Louisville started strong with a few threes and an emphatic dunk by Jae’Lyn Withers off of a steal. The crowd was cheering loud and the players were hyped up. After the Cardinals got out to a 13-5 lead, the Knights flipped a switch and went on a 27-5 run in the next 9 minutes of the game. Bellarmine made four 3-pointers and multiple three throws in that span and were beating down Louisville’s defense with their constant motion. The Knights were up 41-30 at halftime.
The second half was much of the same for the Cardinals. They showed improvements on the defensive end, but they became stagnant on offense and settled for threes and didn’t get to the lane. Bellarmine had a 67-55 lead heading into the final 4:41 of the game. Louisville went on an 11-0 run and had a minute left in regulation to score two points and take the lead. After a turnover by Bellarmine, Louisville point guard El Ellis was fouled and went to shoot the first of a one-and-one due to Louisville being in the bonus.
He missed.
After a back and forth final minute, Louisville center Roosevelt Wheeler missed a put back tip with four seconds left. Bellarmine guard Juston Betz made a wild play after his rebound by throwing the ball behind him all the way down the court to run the clock out.
With 0.9 seconds left on the clock Ellis tried a half-court heave but missed it. Knights win 67-66. Bellarmine was led by Garrett Tipton with 21 points, followed by Bash Wieland with 13. Louisville had three players in double-figures. Withers led Cardinal scorers with 17, Ellis had 14. Redshirt freshman Mike James had an impressive debut with 16 points.
This is Louisville’s first season opening loss in 19 years, and the first home opening loss in 22 years for the Cards. Those are impressive streaks that sadly had to end on Wednesday. The Cardinals play next on Sat. Nov. 12 against Wright State at 1:00 pm.
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