Louisville Pulverized by Maryland in ACC/Big Ten Challenge
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hosting Maryland as part of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge in their first game following the Maui Invitational, the Louisville men's basketball program once again lost in spectacular fashion to start their season, falling 79-54 Tuesday at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Cardinals continue to extend their worst start in the modern era, moving to 0-7 for the year and still winless in the Kenny Payne era. Meanwhile, the No. 22 Terrapins - led by first-year head coach and former Louisville assistant Kevin Willard - remain unbeaten and move to 7-0.
Louisville's 25-point loss is their largest home defeat since losing 106-72 to Charlotte back on Feb. 11, 2001. Along with this season's Cal, they are the second major conference team in the last 40 years to start 0-7.
The Cardinals shot just 33.9 percent from the field and 25.0 percent on three-point attempts, compared to 50.0 percent and 37.5 percent, respectively, by the Terrapins. Louisville was also out-rebounded 38-33, while committing 13 turnovers to just six assists. Maryland scored 21 points off Louisville's turnovers.
El Ellis was the lone Cardinal to finish in double figures, scoring 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting. Maryland's Donta Scott led all scorers with 18 points, with Jahmir Young pouring in 15 and Ian Martinez adding 10.
Thanks in part to some incredibly stale offense by Louisville to start the game, Maryland wasted zero time getting into a groove. The Terrapins opened up the game on an 18-4 run over the first seven minutes, including a 13-0 stretch. During this time, the Cardinals shot 2-12 from the field and committed six turnovers.
But to Louisville's credit, they did respond and showed much more fight before halftime, connecting on eight of their final 14 shots of the half. They were able to pickup the pace offensively, and did hold Maryland to 3-of-13 on threes in the first half, but the Terrapins were still able to keep the Cardinals at arm's length. In fact, during the final 13 minutes of the first half, neither team went on a scoring run longer than four points.
However, things quickly got out of hand in the second half. Maryland connected on their first six shots of the half, five of which were three-pointers, en-route to shooting 53.8 percent from the floor during this period. Meanwhile, Louisville connected on just 30.0 percent of their shots after halftime, resulting in them trailing by as much as 33 points,
Next up, Louisville will play their first ACC game of the season when they host Miami. Tip-off against the Hurricanes is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 4 at 1:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Jae'Lyn Withers, Hakim Hart: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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