Three-Heavy Louisville Blows Out Bucknell in Final Exhibition

This story will be updated.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hosting Bucknell for their second and final exhibition game prior to the start of the 2025-26 season next week, the Louisville men's basketball was able to rebound from their exhibition loss to Kansas last week, winning 99-76 on Tuesday at the KFC Yum! Center.

After posting a less-than-stellar shooting performance in their 90-82 loss to the Jayhawks last Friday, the Cardinals' emphasis in their matchup with the Bison was the three-point shot. Of their 62 total field goal attempts 46 of them came from beyond the arc.

Fortunately, Louisville did a fantastic job of hitting these shots, connecting on 23 threes while shooting an even 50.0 percent on the night. By game's end, seven different Cards made a three-pointer. Ball movement was also much improved from their game against Kansas, with 26 of their 31 made baskets coming off assists.

Mikel Brown Jr., who went just 2-of-15 from the field against Kansas, was lights out against Bucknell, shooting 8-of-13 - including 8-of-11 on threes - to post a game-high 28 points.

All five starters broke double figures for Louisville, with Isaac McKneely adding 18 points, Ryan Conwell pouring in 15, plus J'Vonne Hadley and Sananda Fru each having 11. Brown, McKneely and Conwell combined for 18 threes.

Defensively, it was a little but of a shaky start, but Louisville eventually found their footing here. They held Bucknell to just 40.4 percent from the floor, including just 15-of-35 inside the arc, and forced 13 turnovers.

The overwhelming majority of Louisville's shots in the first half came from deep. In fact, of their 35 total attempts before halftime, 29 of them came from beyond the arc. However, the Cardinals were very streaky shooting the ball in the first half, going 2-of-8, then 4-of-5, then 3-of-11 in the first 13 minutes.

Conversely, Bucknell found a lot of early success going at Louisville's interior defense. The Bison opened up the game shooting 10-of-20 over those first 13 minutes, and even led by as much as three at one point.

In the final seven minutes of the half, Louisville found their stride on both ends. The drilled 8 of their final 11 shot attempts of the period, with all but one attempt being a three-pointer, with Bucknell going 1-8 over this same span - including seven straight misses. After trailing by one with just under five minutes to go, Louisville closed the half on a 21-3 run to go up 56-39 at the half.

The second half largely mirrored the closing segment of the first half. After halftime, Louisville continued to take (and make) three-point shots, while simultaneously shoring up their efforts on the other end of the floor.

In the latter half of play, Louisville did get more involved down low, but still only attempted 10 twos compared to 17 threes. When you combine them going 14-of-27 in the second half (including 9-of-17 from deep), while holding Bucknell to 12-of-29 and forcing eight turnovers, the Cardinals led by as much 27 points.

Next up, Louisville will tip-off the regular season with a home matchup against South Carolina State. Tip-off against the Bulldogs is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 3 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

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