Kenny Payne Sees Progress in Louisville Against Miami

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At this point in time, you know what you're getting when the Louisville men's basketball program takes the floor on any given night.

From the very start of the 2022-23 season, no matter who they have faced, the Cardinals have been a team that turns the ball over at an inconceivable rate, as well as one that struggles to put together consistent energy and effort on either end of the floor. It's the main reason that Louisville (3-22, 1-13 ACC) has not only set the program's single season record for most losses in the season, but why they were a 20.5-point underdog on the road at No. 19 Miami on Saturday night.

That lofty spread didn't seem so unbelievable if you watched Louisville's first matchup against Miami this season. Back on Dec. 4, in what was the ACC opener for both teams the Hurricanes swept away the Cardinals 80-53 on their own floor. Take into account that Louisville had just suffered their worst loss of the season - a 91-57 beatdown at Pitt - in the game just before their rematch with the Canes, another blowout seemed inevitable.

However, that's not what transpired at the Watsco Center. Sure, a decisive loss seemed to be brewing in the game's opening minutes after an extremely slow start by Louisville, but the Cards gave Miami all they could handle. While they ultimately fell 93-85, this was arguably the first loss of the season that you could place the blame on a talent discrepancy vs. a blatant lack of effort - at least on one end of the court.

"I liked what we did offensively, I liked the way we moved the ball, I liked the way we attacked the rim, I liked the shots that we got," head coach Kenny Payne said. "I want to continue to play that way. I want to continue to get the ball moving, and play free, and play confidently."

It's a far cry from the offense that we have been used to seeing at times this season from Louisville, where the ball handler does all the work while the other four players stand around, or they resort to a standard dribble drive offense.

Instead, the Cardinals got great ball movement and were mostly decisive in their passes, and took good shots in rhythm. This resulted in them shooting 57.9 percent from the field - their best mark all season - and 43.5 percent on three-point attempts. A lot of this was due to a phenomenal effort from guard El Ellis, who finished with a career-high 33 points.

Sure, Louisville played from behind for almost the entire game, but they didn't let Miami go on a back-breaking run to put the game away for good. In fact, had the Cardinals not fallen behind 10-0 in the first three minutes of the game, they might have been able to pull off the massive upset.

"Really just staying together," Ellis said, when asked what his message to his teammates was after the early deficit. "Just try not to let the game get out of reach. Even if they go on a run, we got to come back. We got to continue to try to get stops, you got to continue to be solid on offense and not turn the ball over, and get really good shots. That was a game plan for us."

Of course, Louisville wasn't perfect. While they didn't play abysmal defense, they still allowed Miami to shoot 53.4 percent from the field and 40.0 on threes. Turnovers, once again, reared their ugly head, as the Cardinals committed 12 of them to lead to 20 Hurricane points. Three different Miami players - Nigel Pack, Isaiah Wong and Norchad Omier - finished with 20 or more points.

While Payne did say that he saw progress in his team against Miami, he reiterated that there is still a way to go before his guys are playing "winning basketball." He specifically points out compounding mistakes whenever there is adversity, needing to give high energy and effort on the defensive side as well as on offense, and needing more than just a couple players to step up.

"I saw progress," he said. "I mean, you look at our stats: 58 percent from the field, 43 percent from three, 81 percent from the free throw line. That's progress. But on the other side, I'll say it again, winning basketball. Did we fight? Yes, we fought. We made Miami uncomfortable at times. But we need to do that consistently. This isn't "just give a good effort." We got to come out of games trying to win. We need W's. We're playing this game to win.

"Let me give credit to my team, because they're coming off a game where they were embarrassed by what Pittsburgh did to us. So we came out, and we fought. El (Ellis) led us in that regard. El played a great game, and that's what he has to do. We just need more guys to step up. We're not a team that can have two or three guys that aren't playing the way we need them to play. Every person that steps on that floor is vital to us."

With only six games left in the regular season, the odds are against Louisville that they will generate the momentum necessary ahead of the ACC Tournament, and potentially make a high unlikely run towards an conference championship and automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. But just because the end is getting near, Payne isn't allowing his guys to mail it in. He is continuing to try and set his guys up to win, as daunting as it may seem.

"It's not over," he said. "I want them to believe that we can beat anybody. I want them to believe. I want them to come into practice every day and try to get better. It's not a choice. El will be the first to tell you that if you're not thinking that way, I will drag you. I'm not allowing them to quit. I'm not allowing them to not bring energy and not to fight through practices. I'm making this as hard as we can, and I don't care until the last day of the season or whenever our last game is: every single day, we're going to work hard. We're going to try to get better every day. We're going to try to win the day, day by day.

"I can't look ahead and say six games. I can only worry about right now, tomorrow. Build on what we did today. Then the next day, we worry about that day."

(Photo of El Ellis, Kenny Payne: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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