Louisville Falls to Boston College in ACC Tournament

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The tumultuous season for the Louisville men's basketball program is now over.

Taking on Boston College in the opening round of the ACC Tournament, the 15th-seeded Cardinals were unable to pull off an upset against the 10th-seeded Eagles, falling 80-62 Tuesday at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Louisville ends their first season under head Kenny Payne with an overall record of 4-28 and 2-18 during regular season conference play. It's the most losses in a single-season in the Cardinals' 109-year history.

The loss came despite a massive on-court absence for Boston College. Center Quinten Post, the ACC's 2022-23 Most Improved Player who averaged 15.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game during the regular season, was forced to miss the game due to a foot injury.

That still didn't prevent Louisville from getting hammered on the backboards. Boston College won the rebounding battle 40-29, 14-7 on offensive boards, and tallied 40 points in the paint to the Cardinals' 26.

For the game, Louisville shot 38.0 percent from the and 4-of-14 on three-pointers to 46.8 percent and 5-of-19 from Boston College. El Ellis led all scorers with 16 points and five assists, while Brandon Huntley-Hatfield finished with 13 points and six rebounds, and J.J. Traynor notched 12 points and seven boards.

Through the first 15 minutes of the game, it appeared that Louisville was well on their way to getting blown out of the gym based on both their on-court performance and overall energy. During this stretch, the Cardinals shot 5-of-17 to the Eagles' 10-of-21, and had just surrendered an 8-0 run to go down 25-15.

But in the final five minutes of the half, Louisville looked markedly better on both ends of the court. They made five of their last eight shots of half while limiting BC to two of their last eight, ending the first half on a 19-6 run to give them a 34-31 lead at intermission.

This was mainly due to an emphasis on the painted area with Post missing the game. The Cardinals got aggressive in their drives to the lane, and took advantage of their chances at the free throw line. They went 12-of-15 at the charity stripe in the first half, while the Eagles were 4-of-4. Huntley-Hatfield, who would have matched up against Post, went 3-for-3 and 5-of-6 at the line to notch 11 points before the half.

In the second half, even without their best player, it was Boston College who controlled the post and got aggressive. They out-rebounded Louisville 25-11 after halftime, got 28 points in the paint and more than doubled their out-put at the free throw line with a 13-of-20 effort to the Cards' 8-of-11.

The two teams traded barbs in the first four minutes of the half before the Eagles took over. Holding onto a slim two-point lead with under 16 minutes to go, Louisville then allowed Boston College to go on a 20-6 run to effectively put the game out of reach for the Cardinals.

Louisville was able to get the deficit down to nine with 2:45 left following a 9-6 run, but then Boston College ended the game on an 11-2 run to close the door on the Cards' season.

(Photo of DeMarr Langford, Mike James: Bob Donnan - USA TODAY Sports)

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