Pat Kelsey and his Louisville Cardinals came up just short on Saturday, as the Cardinals were unable to make a comeback in the final 10 minutes, and lost to Georgia Tech 77-70.
UofL got off to a hot-start as they went up 13 in the first half at some point, and went on a 19-2 run and allowed just two points in a spam of 10 minutes. Cardinals were led by Terrence Edwards Jr. and Chucky Hepburn, as they had a 12-0 run by themselves and helped Louisville make a total of seven three's in first half to go up 11.
However, Cardinals struggles the second half and lost the half 50-32. and gave up a 21-3 Georgia Tech run in a spam of seven minutes. The Yellow Jackets went up 60-52 and was pretty much all it wrote.
Pat Kelsey after the game unveiled the major key for this Louisville basketball team moving forward when playing on the road.
Pat Kelsey unveils Louisville basketball blueprint following loss
Louisville basketball as a whole didn't perform to the standards they are expecting to play at. The Cardinals shot 58% from the the free-throw line and 36% from deep. However, the free-throws aren't a major concern for Pat Kelsey because he not only knows the work the players put in, but trusts them.
"We left some points out there on the floor with the free-throw line," Kelsey stated on his squad shooting 9-17 from the charity stripe. "That doesn't bother me because I know they are putting in the work. They get their shots up and they get their free-throws up every single day."
It is hard to win games on the road when Kelsey's squad is unable to take the easy points. It didn't help on top of that they shot just 2-10 from deep. However, the main thing that caught Kelsey's eye was the turnovers.
Pat Kelsey and this Cardinals offense is usually good and are one of the better teams with their assist to turnover ratio, however in Saturday's upset, this stat is the clear x-factor moving forward for Kelsey's UofL squad.
"I thought out paint decisions could have been better." Kelsey stated. "Give them credit they turned us over more than we usually do. We had less than a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio, I think it was .86."
The Cardinals usually only turn the ball over on average about 11 times per game, yesterday they gave up the ball 14 times, and as Kelsey stated eight of them were in the second half.
"We had three assists and eight turnovers in the second half. If you look at all of the stats and analytics, a lot of it was very similar, but a big differentiator in the game was their assist to turnover ratio versus ours." Kelsey stated They had almost a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio, they had nine assist and two turnovers in the second half and we turned it over way too much."
Pat Kelsey has improved this Cardinals offense as last year they averaged about 13 turnovers per game, and on the road it is something he clearly emphasizes. Turning the ball over eight times, shooting 9/17 from charity stripe and 2/10 from beyond the arc all in the second half is a recipe for disaster.
It is clear that Kelsey blueprint to success is to take care of the ball and to control the controllables. When the Cardinals are given easy shots and free-throws, they need to make them, and especially on the road.
"When you are on the road in a tough environment, you can't turn the ball over and you have to knock down free-throws. You give Georgia Tech credit. They played like a desperate team and they deserved to win today." Kelsey stated.
Pat Kelsey and his Louisville Cardinals look to improve their free-throw shooting and assist to turnover ratio as they are back on the road Feb. 5 against Boston College, and look to get back in the win column.