Louisville Demonstrates Meaningful Progress in First Win of Kenny Payne Era

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Over their first nine games of their 2022-23 season, the Louisville men's basketball program wasn't exactly putting together an exciting on-court product. Quite frankly, they were barely showing signs that they even had a pulse to begin with.

The Kenny Payne era of Cardinals basketball was anything but smooth right out of the gates, as they dropped their first nine games under his guidance for their worst start since the 1940-41 season. Not only that, but Louisville had been getting smoked on a nightly basis, losing their last six games by an average of 25.2 points.

Their offense was putrid, ball movement (or lack thereof) was horrendous and the effort was wildly inconsistent. Simply put, not only were they losing, but they weren't even giving fans any reason to hope that this could get somewhat better in the immediate future.

They Louisville tipped off game No. 10.

Hosting in-state foe Western Kentucky in a game where they were eight-point home underdogs, it was the Cardinals who came out on the right end of the win/loss column, capturing a decisive 94-83 win over the Hilltoppers.

“For me it was unbelievable," Payne said when asked what it was like to finally capture his first win. "It’s all about them, nothing to do with me. It’s all about seeing their faces and I asked them to smell it, taste it. What does it feel like to finally win when people doubt you – who don’t know you – and they doubt you.

"But you’ve got to have self-control, self-confidence to know that if you pour it in, that you’ll get it out eventually. And hopefully, I’ll say this again, I hope that we don’t revert, because it took a lot to get to this point and win this game. It took a lot. More than I can even tell you guys.”

Against WKU, Louisville looked much better in several departments that had beleaguered them all season long up to this point. Boasting one of the worst assist-to-turnover ratios in all of Division I college hoops, the Cardinals were much more decisive in their passing, finishing with 17 assists to 13 turnovers for their first positive single-game assist-to-turnover ratio.

While they still ended up getting out-rebounded by the Hilltoppers - as well as out-scored in the paint - Louisville held their ground against WKU center Jamarion Sharp, who at 7-foot-5 is the tallest player in Division I. They shot 56.2 percent on two-point attempts, and were 12-of-14 on dunks and layups, which had been a far cry from what they had done over the last few weeks.

El Ellis put on a fantastic performance with his 30 points and 10 assists, but for the first time, Louisville got more out of their offense than just him. In fact, five total players ended up finishing with double figures.

Kamari Lands is finally starting to see his shots go down, finishing with 15 points all on threes and free throws. Forward Sydney Curry, who might as well have been in absentia, finally broke out of his shell to have a 10-point and six-rebound night.

Jae'Lyn Withers, on top of his 10 points, had a team-best defensive +/- of 20. Fabio Basili, while he had just six points, put together great first half minutes. J.J. Traynor had a pair of timely threes. Essentially, the offense didn't wholly revolve around Ellis.

One of the more noticeable aspects about the game was the fact that Louisville was operating with consistant energy and effort. They were incredibly active on both ends of the floor, made hustle plays that they hadn't been making all year, and - quite frankly - actually looked like they wanted to be there.

Given the conversations that Payne was having with players in the days leading up to this game, this was no coincidence.

“We talked about, leading up to this game, whatever your insecurities are, they’re gone," Payne said. "Whatever your excuses are, it’s over. Let’s go win games. There are no excuses. Whatever happened in the past, even if it was in high school, even if it was when you were 10 years old, even if it was last year - that’s over. Let’s get over it and let’s start new. Let’s go prove to people that you belong. Let’s stop having teams come in here and walk out of here with confidence. Let’s understand where you are.

"We’re at Louisville. This is a place that traditionally has been one of the most fierce places to play, one of the most fierce teams to ever face consistently over the years. Respect that. Go out and know that you’re fighting for more than just yourself. It’s not about you, it’s about everybody else.”

Arguably the most promising sign of progress from this game came from the fact that Louisville was finally able to withstand a punch in the mouth. Far too often, Louisville found themselves either digging themselves into an early hole, or completely collapsing at the first small sign of a little bit of momentum from the other side.

Not only did Louisville take a punch, they delivered a counter punch. After WKU fired off a 15-7 run right out of the gates, instead of rolling over, the Cardinals responded with a run of their own, and even took a double-digit lead into halftime. Then in the second half when the Hilltoppers were determined to string together some sort of run, Louisville would not allow them to and would continuously respond to keep them at bay. In fact's Western's longest scoring run in the second half was only five points.

“I just thought they hung in there," Payne said. "We talked about it. We know that there is going to be adversity in the game and I just thought when it came and it happened, we didn’t let go of the rope. It didn’t go from eight to 15. We chipped away at it and we did it without one person saying ‘I’ve got to be the one to get the next basket.’ We did it trusting the process, trusting the offense, creating extra shots for each other and that’s what it takes to win – to just trust it.”

Lastly, Payne himself also made meaningful strides as an in-game coach. This game featured much more sets and plays drawn up by him than we had seen in the past nine games, plus his decision to switch the defense from man to zone not only threw WKU off their offensive rhythm at times, but allowed them to continue playing Jae'Lyn Withers even in foul trouble.

Was Western Kentucky a world-beater? No. The Hilltoppers, despite being 8-1, had just one victory against a KenPom top-100 opponent (Tulane) and entered the matchup outside that mark at 112th themselves.

That being said, you can't deny the strides that Louisville made collectively as a team in their win. While they were far from perfect, it certainly gave the fanbase something to hold on to. It showed that, with time and continued effort, things can eventually get better in the future.

(Photo of El Ellis: Matt Stone - The Louisville Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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