Louisville's Comeback Attempt vs. Wake Forest Falls Short

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Continuing through the gauntlet that is ACC play, the Louisville men's basketball program could not complete their comeback attempt against Wake Forest, falling 80-72 Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.

Down by 22 with 14:50 left in the second half, the Cardinals were able to trim the deficit down as little as three points with 2:40 remaining, thanks primarily to a stretch where they made seven consecutive shots.

Unfortunately, Louisville's defense was not as sharp. Wake Forest was able to hit two critical three-pointers in the final two-and-a-half minutes, and added four free throws to keep the Cardinals at bay. Louisville missed three of their final four shots after making it a three-point game.

The Cardinals continue their winless start to conference play with five straight losses against ACC competition, and fall to 2-13 to start the Kenny Payne era. Louisville's overall losing streak now sits at five games, with their last win coming on Dec. 17 against Florida A&M.

Louisville shot 44.1 percent from the field and was 9-of-28 on three-pointers, but Wake Forest shot much better in both departments and 52.7 percent and 13-of-32, respectively. The Cardinals also coughed it up 14 times for 21 Demon Deacon points, but won the rebounding battle 36-31.

Mike James had another stellar game, going for a career-best and team-high 24 points and eight rebounds. El Ellis also broke the 20-point threshold with 20 of his own, and Jae'Lyn Withers had 11 points. Four Wake Forest players finished in double figures, led by Damari Monsanto's 21 points.

Like so many teams have before against Louisville, Wake Forest wasted very little time establishing control of the game. The Demon Deacons scored the first eight points of the game, then ballooned that into a 27-7 advantage after just 11 minutes.

The Cardinals were able to show some fight in the final nine minutes of the half, but still went into the locker room trailing 43-26 at halftime. Over the first 20 minutes, Louisville turned the ball over 10 times, leading to 18 Wake Forest points off turnovers, and allowed the Deacs to shoot 9-for-20 on three-pointers.

Like in the first half, Wake Forest established dominance in the opening minutes of the second half, using a 10-5 run to go up 22 points in the first five minutes. While Louisville's shooting picked up, posting a 51.7 percentage in the second half, the Demon Deacons countered that with a 50.0 percentage.

Next up, Louisville will head back on the road to take on Clemson. Tip-off against the Tigers is set for Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Damari Monsanto, Jae'Lyn Withers: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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