Louisville HC Kenny Payne Says Pitt Player Trash Talked Him In Game

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When you're having as rough of a season as the Louisville men's basketball program is, no one is immune to trash talk. Not even the head coach.

Speaking to the media following the Cardinals' blowout loss to Pitt Wednesday night, first year head coach Kenny Payne revealed that an unnamed Panthers players started talking trash to him after a late defensive rotation led to a Pitt three-pointer.

"The ball moved around, I could see the play coming, one of our players was sort of in the gap, but not really," Payne said. "I am yelling to him, ‘you have to get here, you have to get here’. He is looking around, boom, the ball hits his hands, the guy shoots the ball in rhythm. He turns around to me and says to me, ‘he’s not there, Coach, he’s too late’."

However, Payne was not annoyed by that fact that an opposing player had opted to talk trash to him. Instead, he admired the fact that he played witch such optimism, and wished that his own players were the aggressors.

"I like that," he said. "I like to see a guy play with confidence. Fans or critics may say I want them quiet and act like you’ve been there before. There is a battle going on and they are the aggressor. They are the predators, and we are the prey.”

Pitt connected on an astounding 14 three-pointers, en route to handing Louisville a 75-54 loss at the KFC Yum! Center. It was the Cardinals' eighth 20-point loss of season, a new single-season program record.

Louisville now sits at 2-17 overall and 0-8 in ACC play, are on a nine-game losing streak. With 12 games remaining in the regular season, they are just three losses away from tying the most in a single season in school history.

They will be back in action next Wednesday when they travel to Boston College on Jan. 25 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

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

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