The Cardinals have made it through the four biggest games of their non-conference schedule, going 2–2 over the past few weeks. After losses to SEC schools Arkansas and Tennessee, Louisville basketball fans are feeling less optimistic than they were a month ago. It’s not so much that they lost those games, but rather how they lost them that has been frustrating. Louisville now sits at 9–2 with just one game left before ACC play begins.
The Cards will take on Montana on Saturday and then will be off until conference play starts on December 30 at California. They open ACC action with a two-game road trip at Cal and Stanford before returning home to face Duke on January 6. With an improved ACC schedule compared to last season, Louisville will need to take a step forward if it wants to compete with the Dukes and UNCs of the world and replicate last year’s impressive 18–2 conference record. Given the added competition, here are some areas Louisville must improve before ACC play tips off.
Related: 5 encouraging observations from Louisville’s no-doubt win against Montana
5 areas Louisville must improve heading into conference play
1. Find a third scoring option
Through 11 games this season, six different players not named Ryan Conwell or Mikel Brown Jr. have finished as a top-three scorer in a game. On the surface, that may suggest good depth, but in reality, it points to inconsistency.
Players like Isaac McKneely, J’Vonne Hadley, and Adrian Wooley are all capable scorers, but none have produced night in and night out. McKneely, for example, hit five threes against Indiana, then went a combined 1-for-10 from deep over his next two games. Just when it looked like forward Sananda Fru was finding his footing—scoring at least 11 points in three straight games—he managed only four points against Tennessee.
When offensive production fluctuates this much, it becomes difficult for the team to know where reliable scoring will come from. If Conwell or Brown Jr. struggles, or if Brown Jr. is unavailable, as he was against Tennessee, Louisville currently lacks a dependable third option to keep the offense afloat.