Louisville Holds Off South Florida in NCAA Tournament Opener

BUFFALO, N.Y. - For the first time in nearly a decade, the Louisville men's basketball program is victorious in the NCAA Tournament.

Getting their run in the Big Dance started with a first round matchup against South Florida, the Cardinals were able to hold on for dear life, escaping with a 83-79 win over the Bulls on Thursday at the KeyBank Center.

Sixth-seeded and No. 23 AP-ranked Louisville (24-10, 11-7 ACC) led by as much as 23 points in the second half, and seemed to be well on their way to a blowout win. However, 11th-seeded USF (25-9, 15-3 American) nearly completed the second-largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history, making it a single digit game in the final six minutes before going ice cold.

Louisville earns their first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2017, when they took down Jacksonville State in the first round. Additionally, second-year head coach Pat Kelsey secures his first NCAA Tournament victory after going 0-4 at Winthrop and Charleston, and falling 89-75 to Creighton last season in his first year at UofL.

Louisville lit South Florida up from the field, shooting 28-of-52 from the field and a blazing 13-of-25 on three-point tries. But when they weren't nailing shots, they were busy turning it over, coughing it up a season-high 22 times for 24 points the other way.

Defensively, the Cardinals put together a great performance, taking away USF's primary strength - threes and second chance points. They held the Bulls to just 5-of-33 from deep (and 30-of-77 overall), and despite allowing 18 offensive rebounds, it only resulted in 15 second chance points.

Isaac McKneely was the hero of the day, scoring a team-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 7-of-10 on threes. Ryan Conwell added 18 points and a team-best six assists (albeit with six turnovers), Sananda Fru put forth a 10-point/10-rebound double-double, and J'Vonne Hadley scored 10 points.

Nerves were certainly present in the early goings, as Louisville got off to a clunky offensive start to this game. They connected on just two of their first 10 attempts, and turned the ball over four times in the first five-plus minutes of the contest.

But once the nerves went away, it allowed the Cardinals play a lot free and execute at a much higher level. Following that cold start, they connected on six of their next 10 attempts, allowing them to go on a 19-4 run midway through the half and push their lead to 24-11 through the first 12 minutes.

Early nerves certainly didn't impact UofL's efforts on the defensive end. South Florida started the game as cold as the Buffalo air outside, hitting just four of their first 24 attempts, including a stretch where they missed 12 straight.

UofL threatened to blow USF out of the gym, but the latter made things a little more interesting in the final eight minutes. The Cards then started to regress offensively, hitting just four of their final 10 shots of the half, while turning it over four times in this stretch. Additionally, the Bulls finally started hit their shots, connecting on six of their last 11 attempts before halftime.

But even with that momentum swing against them down the stretch, Louisville still took a 37-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Cardinals have been prone to slow second half starts all season long, and it looked like that might happen again. South Florida hit three of their first four shots after halftime, cutting the deficit to eight and forcing Kelsey to burn a timeout at the 17:39 mark of the period.

After that timeout, Louisville proceeded to explode. They responded with a resounding 21-6 run, extending their lead to 62-39 at the 12:50 mark. After shooting only 12-of-30 in the first half, the Cardinals then all of a sudden could not miss in the second, going 16-of-22 from the field in the period.

Even with this offensive explosion, they struggled to put the Bulls away. Despite USF going 20-of-42 from the field after halftime, UofL couldn't handle the full court press, and turned it over 12 times in the second half as a result. Because of that, it got down to a single-digit game with 5:24 left.

But after that, Louisville did just enough defensively. South Florida only made 4 of their final 11 tries, and despite only hitting one field goal in the final seven minutes, the Cards got enough production at the free throw line to hold onto a win.

Next up, Louisville will take on either third-seeded Michigan State or 14th-seeded North Dakota State in the Round of 32. Tip-off is scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 21 at a to-be-determined time.

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