Louisville basketball: Cards vs. Youngstown State game day central

Louisville basketball comes home for its regular-season home opener against the Youngstown State Penguins on Sunday afternoon. 

The mood is extremely upbeat for Louisville basketball fans following the opening night road victory over an ACC foe in the Miami Hurricanes.

Louisville went down early in the first half, but the Cards overwhelmed the Canes after a while, cruising to an 87-74 victory. The score was not indicative of how separated this game actually was, however, as Louisville led 87-60 late in the second half before taking out all of their starters.

On Sunday afternoon, the Cards will be back in the Ville for their home opener. It might not be against a high profile opponent, but fans will still pack the KFC Yum! Center to watch the no.5 team in the nation play. The matchup against Youngstown State is the start of a relatively easy stretch of non-conference opponents leading into the ACC/Big Ten challenge against Michigan in early December.

Youngstown State is a Division I program located in Ohio, about 80 miles southeast of Cleveland. The Penguins play in the Horizon League and they’re coming off of a 12-20 season that saw them win 8 conference games. They have a third-year head coach in Jerrod Calhoun, a former West Virginia assistant. Calhoun’s squad ran through their first game of the season on Tuesday night in a 101-53 victory over Thiel, a Division III program.

Youngstown State returns their top six scorers from last year’s team and they are led by sophomore Darius Quisenberry. A 6’1 guard from Springfield, Ohio, Quisenberry averaged 13.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 41 percent from the field. The Penguins have plenty of scoring returning but this still doesn’t have the looks of a roster that can compete with the Cardinals.

Chris Mack believes that the Cards are going to grow from the season opener against Miami, and he had to love what he saw from his team in the game. Five Cardinals scored in double figures, led by All-American star Jordan Nwora’s 23 point performance. Ryan McMahon drilled four threes and gave the Cardinals a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Samuell Williamson continued to impress and he looks like a contender for ACC Freshman of the Year, although it’s early and Cole Anthony is incredible. As a team, Louisville shot 50 percent from the field and 47 percent from three.

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Even without some of their better players in Malik Williams and David Johnson, the Cards dominated and showed everyone exactly why they were touted as a preseason national championship contender. Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams both praised Louisville on Wednesday morning after the win, saying that they believed the Cards were the best team in the nation right now.

As the team moves onto the game against Youngstown State, everyone needs to recognize that all of these early non-conference games are important steps towards addressing tweaks that need to be made by the players, Coach Mack, and his staff. These games are opportunities to try things and they are opportunities for the younger players to get some more playing time as they adapt to the college basketball lifestyle. Despite looking quite overmatched, Youngstown State won’t back down from this challenge and they are going to put their best foot forward as they prepare to challenge the Cards on Sunday. With that in mind, let’s take a look at everything you need to know ahead of the game.