How it happened: Louisville's season ends with squandered opportunities against Michigan State
Louisville wasn’t without its chances in the season-ending 77-69 loss to Michigan State.
The Spartans turned the ball over 15 times, and the Cardinals cut the lead to single digits in both halves, but after surrendering a 4-0 lead, Pat Kelsey’s team never got back over the hump or regained control of the game.
Ryan Conwell led Louisville with 21 points and was 7-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. His backcourt partner, Adrian Wooley, was the only other Card to score in double-figures, adding 17 points and four rebounds in 26 minutes. Louisville struggled to hit from distance in the early going and by halftime was shooting 22.2 percent from beyond the arc, forcing much of the offensive and creation load onto the backs of Conwell and Wooley.
Kelsey’s team eventually wound up outscoring the Spartans 26-24 in the paint, but was crushed in efficiency at the rim and beyond the arc. Michigan State made 11 of 26 3s for a much more efficient 42.3 percent 3-point shooting as opposed to the Cardinals’ 35 percent on 11 more attempts.
Michigan State high-flyer Coen Carr posed an issue with his athleticism and speed in transition. He led MSU with 21 points and also drilled two of his four 3s. Sixteen of their assists also came from one player, sophomore point guard Jeremy Fears, who had a historic 12 and 16.
In all, a negative seven margin on the backboards and attempting 13 fewer free throws than the opponent — two of Kelsey’s four factors — doomed Louisville until the Cards ran out of gas in the final minutes.
Louisville’s 2025-26 season concludes with a 24-10 record and the program’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2017. The decade-plus of starvation of making a second weekend will continue for the Cardinals.
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