How it happened: No. 16 Louisville stomps Cal, picks up first ACC win
Despite being shorthanded, 16th-ranked Louisville opened ACC play with a 90-70 point win at California.
The Cardinals were down star freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr and senior forward Kasean Pryor, as Brown was previously listed as probable but eventually stayed on the bench due to a nagging lower-back injury. Pryor is still working his way back to 100 percent health after suffering a torn ACL 13 months ago and was ruled out on Monday.
Still, Louisville got off to a scorching start from the field, scoring the game’s first 10 points. It was a sign of what was to come for the rest of the night. In the Cards’ previous two road games at Arkansas and Tennessee, they shot less than 21 percent from beyond the arc. On Tuesday, Louisville started 6-of-its-first-9 from distance and went into the break with a 14-point halftime lead.
If there was one thing holding the Cardinals back from running away with the game in the first 20 minutes, it was Louisville’s 16 first-half fouls, which gifted California 14 of its 34 first half point. Both Ryan Conwell and Khani Rooths finished the first half with three fouls, and four other Cards went into the locker room with two.
Conwell was in and out of the lineup with foul trouble for the majority of the night, but still finished with a team-high 26 points and six made 3s.
Junior center Sananda Fru totaled his first collegiate career double-double with over 14 minutes to play in the second half. His 13 points, 14 rebounds, and two blocks were easily enough for the Cards’ frontcourt. Louisville was by far the more physical team on the interior, outrebounding Cal 50 to 31 and scoring 20 more points in the paint.
Senior sharpshooter Isaac McKneely hit a pair of 3s in the game’s opening minutes and finished in double-figures with 11 points. J’Vonne Hadley‘s contributions, including 11 points, nine rebounds, and three assists, should also not go unnoticed.
Perhaps the Cards’ best individual performance, and getting his third consecutive start in Brown’s place, came from Adrian Wooley. The sophomore scored 21 points on an efficient 9-of-14 from the floor, while also grabbing four rebounds.
Things got a bit interesting, as California went on a 14-0 second-half run after Louisville led by as many as 25. The pinnacle of the Golden Bears’ run came on a rare 7-point possession after a Vangelis Zougris technical foul following a Cal basket resulted in two shots and the ball. The Cards were still able to stiff-arm the pesky Cal run, outscoring the Bears by nine in the final five minutes.
Coming in, California was 12-1 and holding wins over Utah and UCLA, while shooting 39.6 percent from distance on the season. On Tuesday, Louisville held the Bears to 33.9 percent shooting from the floor, allowed only 16 points in the paint, and handed Mark Madsen’s team its first home loss of the winter.
It was a completely dominant offensive performance for Pat Kelsey and Louisville, as when the night was done, the Cards were scoring at 1.29 points per possession
Louisville will celebrate the New Year out west and play Stanford on Friday night. Tip-off is set for 8 PM EST on the ACC Network.
