Louisville's Offense Reaches New Low Against DePaul

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Heading into Friday night's game against DePaul, the offensive struggles for the Louisville men's basketball program were well documented. Thanks to inconsistent execution of their new offensive system, coupled with at-times questionable shot selection, the Cardinals had been prone to prolonged lapses in production on that end of the floor.

Against the Blue Demons, Louisville's problems on offense somehow found a way to get even worse than they already were, playing a large role in their shocking 62-55 loss to DePaul to snap a 10-game win streak in the series.

The Cardinals hit just 23 of their 74 field goal attempts to shoot a season-low 31.1 percent, while also connecting on only seven of their 33 three-point attempts for another season-low of 21.2 percent. The first half featured a stretch where Louisville shot just 1-19 including a seven minute-plus scoring drought, while they shot just 28.9 percent in the entirety of the second half.

Shooting wasn't the only thing that didn't go Louisville's way on that end of the floor. They turned the ball over 15 times, and made just three trips to the free throw line - their lowest since attempting two against Syracuse in 2016. All night long, they simply could not find their offensive rhythm.

"We have to figure something out," head coach Chris Mack said. "Three free throws is ridiculous. We have to be able to play through contact and when we get bumped, we have to be able to hang on to the basketball and quit turning over the damn ball when a guy knocks into us. The easy thing to do is to say we aren't shooting well."

Mack believes that the first key to helping jump start the offense is to do a better job in the paint, specifically their ability to get the ball in the lane and draw fouls. Louisville was just 13-25 on layups, partially due to eight blocks from DePaul's starting center Nick Ongenda.

He also wants them to be less perimeter oriented, at least for the moment. Noah Locke, Matt Cross and Jarrod West - three transfers who were brought in primarily for their ability to hit the long ball - were a combined 4-20 on three-point attempts against the Blue Demons.

Mack believes that, on top of wanting to executive at a higher caliber in the paint, eventually, Louisville has to start making their open shots.

"We had several open ones that we missed and we're going to continue to tell them to shoot the ball, but it has to start with our ability to get the ball in the lane," he said. "That has to be recognized a little bit more both by our coaching staff and our players. We've got to get in there without getting it knocked out of our hands and without getting knocked over ourselves."

As for DePaul, they ran a 2-3 matchup zone for much of the night, something Mack admits he was not expecting since they had not run it all season. But, he also believes that, like on defense, Louisville has to have a much more physical and aggressive mindset on offense.

"We have to be able to get on the floor and put guys in situations where they have to finish through contact, then hopefully it becomes a little bit easier, a little bit more instinctive when we get in the game. But right now, that is my fault."

If you ask co-captain Malik Williams, there might be some issue with the team's overall buy-in to the new pace-and-space offensive system spearheaded by assistant coach Ross McMains. He made mention of it after their loss to Furman, and he brought it up again after the loss to DePaul.

"I wouldn't say that," Williams said when asked if the team still felt uncomfortable running the new system. "I will say maybe the buy-in, and just truly trying to do the job that (McMains) needs us to do, and for it to be successful. Because when it works, it's good. But if it's not gonna be consistent of you understanding what you need to do every place, it gets really, really shaky for us."

As it stands now, Louisville is shooting 40.8 percent from the floor, 29.3 percent on three-point attempts, and committing 14.8 turnovers per game - all of which ranks dead last in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

With road matchups at Western Kentucky and Kentucky on the horizon, as well the uptick in competition that comes in conference play, the Cardinals are going to have to figure out the offensive struggles in a hurry.

(Photo of Louisville Players: Cindy Rice Shelton - Louisville Report)

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