Louisville Stunned by Lenoir-Rhyne in Exhibition Play
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Taking the floor against an actual opponent for the first time since March, the Kenny Payne era of the Louisville men's basketball program hit a bump in the road right out of the gates, getting stunned against Division II foe Lenoir-Rhyne 57-47 in exhibition play Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center.
The loss snapped a 39-game winning streak in exhibition play for the Cardinals that had lasted for over two decades. Their previous loss in an exhibition game came on Dec. 2, 2000 against Global Sports, with Louisville falling 87-86 in double overtime in Freedom Hall.
The Bears, who are coached by former Louisville legend Everick Sullivan, shot just 35.7 percent from the field but held the Cardinals to an even lower mark of 29.2 percent.
Louisville committed twice as many turnovers as Lenoir-Rhyne, 16 to 8, resulting in a 15-4 points off turnover discrepancy. The Cardinals narrowly won the rebounding battle at 40-35, but were outscored 24-14 in the paint.
Jae'Lyn Withers led all scorers and rebounders with 20-point/10-board double-double, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-7 on three-point attempts. The rest of the Cardinals combined for 9-of-39 and 2-of-12.
Louisville had a solid opening segment, shooting 5-8 from the field right out of the gates to go up 13-4 just before the first media timeout, but looked out of sorts for most of the rest of the first half. Over the next 15 minutes, the Cardinals shot just 4-19 from the field and committed eight turnovers.
While Lenoir-Rhyne only shot 10-29 from the field and 4-17 from three-point range during the first half, this was mostly a product of their own doing. Louisville had trouble rotating on defense throughout much of the first half, routinely leaving players on one-on-one matchups on the drive or wide open on the perimeter.
After leading by as much as nine in the early goings, their subsequent struggles on both end of the floor saw them take only a 28-26 lead into halftime.
These struggles were exacerbated in the second half, with Louisville shooting just 1-13 in the first 12 minutes out of halftime. Lenoir-Rhyne had trouble capitalizing on this at first, but eventually found a rhythm, and used it to go on a 17-2 run midway through the half.
Louisville shot 4-8 in the final eight minutes and was able to cut the deficit to as little as eight, but weren't able to stop Lenoir-Rhyne defensively. A 6-0 run by the Bears in the closing minutes put them up by as much as 14, hampering any chance of a comeback attempt.
Next up, Louisville will host Chaminade in their second and final exhibition matchup before the start of the regular season. Tip-off against the Silverswords is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of El Ellis: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)
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