What Kenny Payne, El Ellis Said After Louisville's 79-62 Loss at Duke

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program came firing out of the gates against Duke, but fell behind after a momentum-shifting first half run, and couldn't get over the hump in the second half to fall 79-62.

Here's what head coach Kenny Payne and guard El Ellis had to say following the loss:

Head Coach Kenny Payne

(Opening statement)

I thought we played one of the most talented teams in this conference. Even though they're young, they're really talented. They have great length. It bothered us. They shot the ball well, and they get the ball in the paint. One thing they did, they dominated us on the boards. I don't know how many total points they had off offensive rebounds (16), but they dominated. Disappointed in the way we came out and played. I thought we started out pretty good. Then we put them on their heels, and then when they hit us back, we wilted. We wilted and never got it back. Give them credit. Good team, NCAA tournament team. They got good players all around the court, one through five. They're tough to guard. When they do miss shots, they go to the boards.

(On what Duke did defensively)

They denied us all over the court. I thought we refused to get into bodies, and man up and fight to get open. We've worked on it every day. I just thought that they put us on our heels. At times, it looks like the environment intimidated us. Not acceptable. We tried to explain to them what kind of environment this is. We have a coach on the staff, Nolan (Smith), who played here, coached here, went through everything that this program is and what it means to be here, and how they were gonna come out and play against us. Something didn't click. We as coaches, me personally, I'll take the blame for that. I couldn't get them to play the way they needed to play with the fight that we needed to get a win.

(On Ellis' performance and what he means to the team)

I'll just speak on this: He came out, and he put us, willed us, to the lead in the beginning of this game. His impact on his team is immense. We go with him, in essence, everything we do. That's in walkthroughs, that's in practice, that's in games. His spirit- it's a tough thing to be a young man and be a spirit child, because that's a dangerous position to be in. You decide to take a play, or a week, or a day, or something off, it affects a whole lot of other people. He's trying. He's getting better every day. I'm proud of him. He's gotten better. He works hard. He wants to win. He plays to win. He's doing what I'm asking him to do. I just need some other guys to step up with him and fight with him.

(On the performance from Traynor)

I liked the way JJ played offensively, but he finished the game with three rebounds. The points are not it for me. I need guys that's gonna get rebounds, that's gonna get assists, that's gonna play with energy, that's going to fight. The fact that he shot the ball well, and he scored well, I expect that. I also expect him to finish that off with getting me rebounds and fighting on defense. He had a good game, he had a pretty good game. I need a winning game.

Guard El Ellis

(On playing in his hometown, and his performance)

Tonight was a really big game for me. I just feel like I needed to come out there and be calm. Just let the game come to me. We didn't win, but I mean, I feel like we fought. But when the team went on a run, we didn't respond well. And that's what happens when you don't come on ready to play.

(Photo of Kenny Payne: Rob Kinnan - USA TODAY Sports)

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