Louisville basketball: Final takeaways from Cards clash with Bellarmine
The Louisville basketball program was tested to their limits by Division II powerhouse Bellarmine on Tuesday night, but they ultimately made some clutch shots to pull away with a 75-65 victory.
15,000 fans packed into the KFC Yum! Center last night to watch Louisville basketball play for the first time this season, despite it being an exhibition game. That just shows you the level of importance that the annual Bellarmine/Louisville game has on this city.
It was the last public exhibition game that the Cards and the Knights will go head to head in, as Bellarmine makes the transition to D1 next year. But for one final time, the clash between city programs lived up to the hype and Louisville fans got their anxiety tested before the regular season even started.
Many fans might’ve expected the fifth-ranked Cards to easily storm past Bellarmine, even though the Knights are one of the best teams in Division II basketball. Those fans clearly hadn’t seen this series in the past, as Scott Davenport is one of the better coaches in the collegiate landscape and he’s highly respected in the Louisville community. As Chris Mack said in the postgame press conference, he expected this game to be difficult and he never expects anything less when coaching against Davenport.
Bellarmine plays a unique style of basketball that seems to always give Louisville fits, centered around intense ball movement until they find a mismatch or create an opening against the defense. The Knights are always an incredibly disciplined team and they seemed to get into the lane with ease against the Cardinals.
Louisville was shorthanded, dealing with an injury to projected starting center Steven Enoch as well as injuries to Malik Williams and David Johnson. Enoch would’ve helped the Cards keep Bellarmine out of the lane, but the guards and forwards have to do a better job of stopping the ballhandler. Coach Mack also commented on how many threes his team was taking, and he said that they need to learn that they can’t simply rely on jump shots, which was something that seemed to happen often last season. Expect the Cards to improve and attack the lane more as they find an offensive identity over time.
Both teams will improve a lot from this one, and they both figure to be right in the mix for the national championships in each of their respective divisions. With that said, there is a lot to unpack from this one, for both sides. Let’s get into it!