What Pat Kelsey and Khani Rooths Said After Louisville's 88-80 Win at Wake Forest

Listen to what the head coach of the Cardinals and their reserve forward said after their win over the Demon Deacons:

Feb 7, 2026; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey during the first half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It wasn't easy, but it was still a win, which is better than the alternate.

Making the trip down to Winston-Salem for a showdown with Wake Forest, the Louisville men's basketball program held firm down the strech despite a late change by the Demon Deacons, eventually leavin the Joel Coliseum with an 88-80 victory.

"Fortunate to come out with a win," head coach Pat Kelsey said.
"Winning on the road in conference is always hard. I got a ton of respect for (Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes). We've been the business together for a long, long time. They're dealing with serious injury problems right now, and they're competing and gave us all we could handle tonight."

Louisville led by double figures early in the second half, but Wake Forest tied it with under five minutes. But the Cards got lockdown defense when they absolutely needed it the most, forcing the Deacs to miss their final 11 shots of the afternoon.

Six Cardinals cracked double figures scoring, led by Sananda Fru, whose 17 points and six rebounds both led the team. J'Vonne Hadley finished with 15 points, Khani Rooths came off the bench for 13, Mikel Brown had 12 with eight assists, and both Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely added 11. Juke Harris led Wake Forest with 25 points.

"Feel good about how the game ended the last four minutes in terms of our defense and rebounding," Kelsey said. "I give Wake a lot of credit for their tenacity on the glass in the second half. Hurt us there in that area, but our guys had the wherewithal to flip the switch and get stops and rebounds down the stretch. I felt like it was a phenomenal team win."

Here's what head coach Pat Kelsey and forward Khani Rooths had to say following the win:

Head Coach Pat Kelsey and Forward Khani Rooths

(Photo of Pat Kelsey: Jim Dedmon - Imagn Images)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter/X - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisvilleonsi

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X and @mattmcgavic.bsky.social on Bluesky