Louisville Holds Off Florida A&M for First Winning Streak of Kenny Payne Era

It wasn't pretty, but the Cardinals held off the Rattlers long enough to get the win.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Three days after defeating Western Kentucky for their first win of the 2022-23, the Louisville men's basketball program now has their first winning streak of the Kenny Payne era, taking down Florida A&M 61-55 Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center

The streak comes after a brutal start to the year for the Cardinals (2-9, 0-2 ACC). They dropped their first nine games of the year, including a six-game stretch where they lost by and average of 25.2 points. They took down WKU, 94-83, this past Wednesday to snap the skid.

Louisville shot the ball at a 42.2 percent clip, but was just 3-14 on three-point attempts, and turned the ball over a season-high 22 times. Fortunately, they held Florida A&M to just 34.4 percent from the field and 6-22 on three-point attempts, while also winning the rebounding battle 45-31 and makes 17 more free throws on 15 more attempts.

The winning effort was fueled mainly by a career performance from Sydney Curry, who tied for the team-high in points with 13 and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds. El Ellis also notched 13 points along with seven assists, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield fell short of a double-double with eight points and nine boards.

The first half of play was marred by some incredibly ugly basketball from both teams. Louisville shot the ball at 30.4 percent clip, was 1-11 on three-point attempts, and committed 12 turnovers. Even though Florida A&M had a much worse shooting half at 26.7 percent and 2-10 on threes, they were still able to keep it a two-point game at halftime thanks in part to a 6-0 run to end the half.

Louisville and Florida A&M spent the first ten minutes of the second half trading sizable runs. The Cardinals fired off a 10-0 right out of the locker room, the Rattlers countered with a 16-7 run to briefly retake the lead roughly six minutes into the half, and then UofL responded again with a 13-2 run.

The final ten minutes was spent holding off Florida A&M, who was able whittle Louisville's lead to as little as six points with over four minutes to go. Down the stretch, Ellis scored six consecutive points - four free throws and a layup - to keep the Rattlers at bay long enough to escape with a win.

Next up, Louisville will attempt to continue their winning streak when they host Lipscomb. Tip-off against the Bisons is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 6:00 p.m EST.

(Photo of Kamari Lands: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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