Louisville Rallies Late, Defeats New Mexico State in Overtime

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Returning to action for the first time since a winless outing in the Empire Classic, the Louisville men's basketball program narrowly avoided a massive upset to New Mexico State, rallying late to win 90-84 in overtime Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center.

Trailing by eight with just over a minute to go, the Cardinals (3-3, 0-0 ACC) were able to fire off a last ditch 8-0 run. Tre White hit a game-tying three with 21 seconds left, then after a blocking foul put the Aggies' (3-5, 0-0 C-USA) Kaosi Ezeagu on the free throw line with 1.5 seconds left, he was unable to hit either of his free throws.

Once the game got to overtime, Louisville took advantage of New Mexico State's foul trouble to come out on top. Despite the Cardinals going 1-for-4 in the extra period compared to 4-for-9 by the Aggies, a 15-of-19 mark at the charity stripe by UofL vs. a 2-of-4 effort by NMSU proved to be the deciding factor down the stretch.

Despite facing a New Mexico State team who was short their leading scorer and rebounder - Seton Hall transfer Femi Odukale - and featured a completely new roster and coaching staff following last season's murder investigation and sexual assault/hazing scandal, some of Louisville's struggles defensively were evident throughout the contest.

The Aggies connected on 58.3 percent of their field goal attempts, with 44 of their 84 points coming in the paint, while the Cardinals shot 44.6 from the field. Louisville also turned the ball over 13 times for 23 New Mexico State points, and narrowly won the rebounding battle at 35-32.

What wound up saving the Cardinals was their free throw shooting, as they were given plenty of opportunities at the charity stripe, while also cashing in more often than not. Thanks to a whopping 40 fouls from the Aggies, which saw them have six players foul out, Louisville went 36-of-49 at the line, while New Mexico State went 9-of-17.

It marked Louisville's first overtime game, and win, under head coach Kenny Payne.

Louisville has a trio of players finished with at least 20 points, led by a 29-point effort from Clark. White poured in 22 points, while Traynor had 20. Ty-Laur Johnson also finished in double figures scoring with 10.

Louisville got off to an incredibly cold shooting start, missing their first eight field goal attempts, not hitting their first attempt until 7:15 into the game, and hitting just one of their first 11 attempts. Towards the back end of the first half, the Cardinals started to get in a bit more of a shooting rhythm, going 8-for-13 after the 1-for-11 start.

While Louisville's offensive efforts in the first half improved as time went on, their execution on defense and the backboards struggled for the entire half, leading to a 30-28 deficit at halftime. They routinely allowed easy buckets to New Mexico State, with the Aggies shooting 14-of-25 before halftime, scoring 20 points in the paint, and winning the rebounding battle 15-14.

The offensive execution from Louisville to end the first half carried over into the second half, but so did their lack of it on the defensive end. While they shot at a much better clip after halftime, 53.6 percent afterwards to 37.5 percent beforehand, New Mexico State was 65.4 percent from the field int he second half.

Next up, Louisville will stay at home for a midweek matchup with crosstown foe Bellarmine. Tip-off against the Knights is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Skyy Clark: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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