The No. 11 Louisville Cardinals were able to close out the Chattanooga Mocs by a score of 84-70, starting the regular season 1-0. However, both halves could not have been more different from each other, as Louisville struggled to put the Mocs away.

The First Half:

The Cards got off to an early 17-5 run with a pair of Jackson Shelstad threes and continued to establish control, taking a commanding 56-35 lead into halftime. The Cardinals showcased their perimeter shooting, going 8-19, while scoring 26 paint points. Louisville shot 57% from the field and 42% from 3 in the opening half.

Jackson Shelstad and Adrian Wooley led the team in scoring with 11 before the break. Wooley shot 5-6 from the field while Shelstad went 3-7 from beyond the arc.

The Cards only turned the ball over 5 times in the first half and maintained control all the way through despite Chattanooga’s best efforts in trying to string together a few runs.

The Second Half:

Despite Louisville’s dominant opening half, they just could not replicate that success after the break, only scoring half the amount they did in the first half. The Cardinals were outscored in the second half 35-28 by the Mocs. In the final 13:33 of the game, Louisville only made 5 field goals, also going the final 4:13 without one. Louisville shot just 29% from the field in the second half, going just 1-16 from 3. Chattanooga ended the game on a 21-12 run in the final 9:19

There were some major discrepancies in both halves. The Cardinals went from having 1.56 points per possession in the first to just .85 in the second. Also, Louisville went from having 15 bench points to just 2. Plus, the Cards were outrebounded by 6.

“I’m a little disappointed, I’m a little ticked off, and I’m excited about getting back to work,” head coach Pat Kelsey said.

Notable Cards:

Flory Bidunga– Bidunga led the Cardinals in scoring with 16, going 6-9 from the field. Despite the team’s lackluster second half, Bidunga proved to be someone you give the ball to and let go to work, and Pat Kelsey should’ve done that more.

Alvaro Folgueiras– Folgueiras did a little bit of everything, and that’s just a part of his game. The Iowa transfer recorded 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in the contest, shooting 3-5 from the field and 2-4 from 3. Folgueiras gave a glimpse into how important his role could be with the team, being a do-it-all forward.

Takeaways:

• Lock in, D: Throughout the night, but mainly in the second half, there seemed to be a lack of effort on the defensive side. The Cardinals were slow to close out on 3s (some of which were wide open attempts), as Chattanooga shot 12-23 from distance. As mentioned, Louisville got out-rebounded in the second half 27-21, and there is no excuse for that.

• Where Did the O Go?: The Cardinals put up a near 60-piece in the first half, only for them to finish with just above 80 points total. Louisville simply couldn’t get shots to fall, and they weren’t particularly bad shots either. Being 1-16 from 3 in the second half, they should’ve abandoned that sooner and gone to attacking the basket. It felt like a lot of possessions came up empty; Karter Knox was a loose cannon at times with the ball in his hands.

Final Thoughts:

Louisville is going to need to get it together ASAP. Performances like that will have them hung out to dry against tougher competition, and they begin a gauntlet stretch in 3 weeks. The second half washed out the success of the first and left Cards fans with a bad taste in their mouths. Next, Louisville faces Morehead State with an opportunity to get right for a full 40 minutes.

Game Highlights