Louisville Blasted by Hot-Shooting Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Staying on the road and traveling west up I-40 from Chapel Hill for a matchup at Wake Forest, the Louisville men's basketball program could not overcome a white-hot shooting performance from their hosts, falling in blowout fashion to the tune of 90-65 Saturday at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
While the Cardinals (6-12, 1-6 ACC) did snap a lengthy road losing streak at Miami last week, they are now 1-16 on the road and 3-24 in ACC play under second-year head coach Kenny Payne. They've also now dropped their last three matchups against the Demon Deacons (13-5, 5-2 ACC).
Heading into the matchup, Wake Forest ranked No. 22 in D1 in three-point percentage at 38.2. Pair that with Louisville's season-long struggles when it comes to defensive rotations on the perimeter, as they were 200th nationally in three-point defense at 33.5 percent, and it proved to be a recipe for disaster.
The Deacs shot an unfathomable 18-of-35 mark on three point attempts, the most threes by an ACC team this season and the most surrendered by Louisville under Payne. They also shot 50.0 percent from the field overall, and assisted on 20 of their 31 made field goals. Five players from this squad cracked double figures in scoring, led by 19 points from Hunter Sallis.
The appalling effort on the defensive end from the Cards spoiled one of their better offensive performances this season. Louisville shot 45.8 percent from the field despite going only 2-of-11 on threes, while also posting a team assist-to-turnover ratio of 12-to-7.
Louisville was led by a trio a double figure scorers, with Tre White pouring in a team-high 17 points, Mike James adding 16, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield finishing with 12. These three combined to shoot 20-of-32 from the field, while the rest of the Cardinals were 7-of-27
Struggling right out of the gates has been a common theme with Louisville as of late, and this game was no different. Add in the fact that walk-on Zan Payne played the first 10 minutes of the game on his first career start, Wake Forest took full advantage.
The Cardinals allowed the Demon Deacons to shoot a blistering 10-of-19 on three point attempts in the first half alone as part of a 16-of-30 overall shooting effort before halftime. This appalling defensive start negated one of Louisville's better offensive shooting halves, as they went 14-of-26 from the field despite going 0-for-3 on threes.
Still thanks in part to the fact that they allowed WF to connect on six of their last eight shot attempts of the half, UofL went into the locker room facing a daunting 48-33 deficit.
Louisville's defensive efforts didn't get much better in the second half. While Wake Forest backed off the three ball a little bit during this half, this was mainly due to their near-insurmountable lead. The Cardinals still allowed the Demon Deacons to shoot 15-of-32 in the second half and 8-of-16 on threes, putting down any sort of chance for them to mount a comeback.
Next up, Louisville will return home to the KFC Yum! Center for a showdown with Duke. Tip-off against the Blue Devils is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Skyy Clark: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)
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