Louisville Stuns Miami for First Road Win in Kenny Payne Era
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MIAMI - Head coach Kenny Payne has finally secured his first road win.
Traveling down to South Florida for a matchup at Miami, the Louisville men's basketball program was able to pull off a massive upset, claiming a 80-71 victory Wednesday night at the Watsco Center.
The Cardinals' (6-9, 1-3 ACC) win over the Hurricanes (11-4, 2-2 ACC) not only secures their first win in ACC play this season, but also snaps a lengthy 22-game losing streak in true road games, which included a previously 0-14 mark under Payne. Their last win in a true road game had previously been a 67-64 decision that came 738 days ago at Georgia Tech on Jan. 5, 2022.
With only seven scholarship players at their disposal due to various injuries and facing a Miami team that had won 25 of their last 26 games at home, Louisville entered the game as 16.5-point underdogs. However, despite being matched up against one of the top offenses in college basketball, it was the Cardinals who shined on that end of the court.
Louisville connected on 49.1 of their field goal attempts to just a 38.8 percent mark from Miami, including 10-of-23 on three-point attempts by the Cards to just 11-of-34 from the Canes. UofL also assisted on 17 of their 28 made shots.
Both teams struggles with turning the ball over, with Louisville coughing it up 12 times and Miami doing so 13 times, but the Cardinals made more of their opportunities. They collected 24 points off turnovers, while the Hurricanes could only score 13. It helped to overcome a 23-to-7 discrepancy in fastbreak points that favored Miami.
Mike James and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield led the charge for Louisville. James scored a game-high 26 points, including 16 in the first 7:15 of the game, while Huntley-Hatfield finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. Curtis Williams also cracked double figures in scoring with 13 points and five assists, while Skyy Clark collected nine points, six assists and six rebounds.
Louisville was incredibly disjointed right out of the gates. They committed three turnovers in the opening three minutes of the game, and allowed Miami to shoot 3-of-5 while only getting off two shot attempts on their end during that span.
After the Hurricanes scored eight of the game's first 11 points, Mike James took over. He helped the Cardinals fire off a 15-2 run to lead by as much as eight points early in the first half, including a 10-0 run from himself alone.
Miami countered Louisville's run with a 12-2 run of their own, then the two teams took turns scoring nearly at-will in the final 10 minutes of the first half. When it got to halftime - with the Canes leading the Cards 41-37 - while the two teams combined to commit 19 turnovers, they also combined to shoot an even 50.0 percent from the field and 14-of-30 on threes.
Louisville scored six of the first eight points of the half to tie the game, but Miami responded with an 8-0 run of their own, and looked to be on the verge of blowing the game open.
Instead, the Cardinals proceeded to take over. Down by seven with 11:30 to go, Louisville connected on their next six shot attempts to pull in front, and hit nine of their final 15 shots of the game. Conversely, the rim shrunk for Miami, as they could only hit four of their final 23 tries.
Louisville also went 11-of-12 from the free throw line down the stretch, keeping any chance of a Miami comeback at bay. In the second half, the Cardinals shot 50.0 percent (14-of-28), while the Canes were just 27.8 percent (10-of-36.)
Next up, Louisville will return home to face NC State. Tip-off against the Wolfpack is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 13 at 12:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Mike James: Sam Navarro - USA TODAY Sports)
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