Louisville basketball recently lost to the Tennessee Volunteers 83-62 on Tuesday night. The No. 11 Louisville Cardinals suffered their second loss of the 2025-26 season, both on the road and against ranked SEC teams. Louisville’s two losses weren’t pretty, as in both games, they were down by at least 20 points. Against the Razorbacks, they made a late comeback, but against Tennessee, it got ugly fast.
Louisville kept it manageable in the first half, but the Cards were dominated in the second. When looking at stats alone, one stat stands out, and that is the bench points. The Cardinals were without Mikel Brown Jr., so Adrian Wooley, who averages nine points per game, started, but the other five bench players struggled on the court all game.
Moving forward, Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals know that if they want to make a run in March, their depth must step up. The Cardinals' bench has to be a factor, and on Tuesday night, it showed why.
Louisville's bench was outscored 34-3
Entering the season, Kelsey praised this team's depth and said it was its biggest strength. And one bad game doesn’t define the bench and the depth, but the Cardinals getting outscored 34-3 is one stat that sums up Tuesday night.
Louisville’s bench scored just three points on five shots. Khani Rooths went 0-2 from the field and 1-2 from the free throw line, while Vangelis Zougris went 1-1 with two points in eight minutes. The Cards were hoping to get more from their bench, especially with their star point guard out, but it was nonexistent on the offensive end.
Earlier in the year, it looked like Rooths was going to take that leap many fans wanted, but since he scored 20 and 16 in the first two games, he has scored seven or more points only twice, including one 10-point performance. Rooths and Kasean Pryor provide length and athleticism that the Cardinals need, and moving forward, it might be worth giving these two more minutes in matchups against teams like Tennessee.
Moving forward, this depth and bench have to step up on both ends. As for the defense, the Cardinals cannot let an opposing team's defense score 34 points on them. That is simply a recipe for a disaster. The Vols bench scored 34 points, including Jaylen Carey’s 12, and they made 65 percent of their shots.
If Louisville is going to play 10 or 11 guys, the bench has to step up and give quality minutes. Kobe Rodgers has been a menace on defense in some games, and usually, Wooley provides a spark on both ends, but the frontcourt players have to step up. Louisville's depth is still one of its biggest strengths, but in these marquee matchups, it has to show up.