Louisville Bounces Back With Win Over Southeastern Louisiana
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On the heels of their stunning loss to DePaul last week, the Louisville men's basketball program took a step back in the right direction Tuesday, taking down Southeastern Louisiana 86-60 at the KFC Yum! Center.
As you can imagine with an out-matched opponent, the Cardinals dominated the Lions across the board. They shot 51.7 percent from the field and 35.0 percent on threes while holding their opposition to 32.3, out-rebounded them 40-33, and forced 16 turnovers while having 14 of their own.
Four Cards finished in double figures, led by a 15-point/10-rebound double-double from Malik Williams. El Ellis and Matt Cross poured in 13 points a piece, while Mason Faulkner had 12.
Following comments from head coach Chris Mack that the Cardinals were playing with too much around the perimeter against DePaul, Louisville's game plan against SLU had a heavy emphasis in the paint. They finished with 44 points in the paint, shot 21-29 on layups and dunks, made 23 trips to the free-throw line for 19 makes, while attempting 20 total three-pointers.
The game was slow to develop from the opening tip. Louisville had some early misses on layups, the officials called a combined six offensive fouls between SLU and UofL in the first eight minutes, and the Cardinals did cough up the ball seven times before halftime.
But after a while, their paint emphasis started to come together, finishing the half with only six three-point attempts and scoring on 20 of their 35 possessions. Thanks mainly to the style of offense they played, and allowing SLU to shoot 42.3 percent in the first half, Louisville took just a 42-31 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Louisville's defense was much more efficient, as they held Southeastern Louisiana to just 25.0 percent after halftime. On the other end of the court, the Cardinals' offense got into a little bit more of a complete rhythm as well. They took 14 three-pointers, sinking six, while still shooting 51.7 percent from the floor.
Next up, Louisville will head back on the road for a matchup at Western Kentucky. Tip-off against the Hilltoppers is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 18 at 2:30 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Noah Locke, Keon Clergeot: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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