Louisville's lackluster second half hard to overcome against Duke
The Louisville Cardinals drop one at home versus the Duke Blue Devils, 84-73, bringing their record to 11-4 (1-2) on the season.
The Cardinals got off to a hot start in the first half, building a lead as large as 12 points, but that wouldn’t be enough. Jon Scheyer’s team outscored Louisville by 20 points in the second half.
Watch what Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said after the loss
Defensive execution
After a subpar defensive performance against Stanford in their previous game, the Cardinals unfortunately replicated those efforts against Duke in the second half.
After doing a good job in the first half of making Duke shoot threes and keeping them out of the paint, that became the inverse in the second half. The Blue Devils started to find success with straight-line drives and paint touches out of ball-screens.
Ball-screen coverage was not as much of an issue in the first half, but became one in the second half. Where Duke found success was with middle ball-screens, but the Cardinals didn’t make enough adjustments to combat this.
When Pat Kelsey was asked about ball-screen coverage, he admitted, “We should’ve changed our coverage more.”
Duke point guard Caleb Foster was the catalyst of these efforts, as he found consistent success with the ball in his hands. He excelled as a creator in ball-screens or in isolation situations, as he used his change of pace and strength to drive success as a slasher. On multiple occasions, he used his frame to maneuver Louisville’s guards around the rim, which led to multiple paint finishes. He also used his straight-line speed to blow past defenders, as well. Louisville’s guards failed to keep him in front, while on the backline, they didn’t have any rim-protection. He finished with a career-high 20 points.
During Kelsey’s opening statement, he mentioned Caleb Foster as “a game changer in the second half.”
Cameron Boozer was successful throughout with great efficiency as well, finishing with 27 points on 10-for-12 field goals. He found success in a multitude of ways, and Louisville had no answer for his offensive versatility. He attacked them out of ball-screens as a handler, stretched the floor as a pick-and-pop threat, and scored both from the post and driving from the perimeter.
Additionally, Louisville continued to struggle defending without fouling. The Cardinals surrendered 28 free-throw attempts and committed 20 personal fouls on the night. Kelsey stressed going forward that they, “have to guard without fouling.”
When Ryan Conwell and Aly Khalifa were asked about their defensive efforts, they both expressed disappointment and frustration. Conwell said, “We just have to guard the ball. They were just getting downhill at will in the second half. We have to be better.” Khalifa added, “We just have to take it personal. Defense is everything, man.”
Offense becomes stagnant in the second half
During the first half, Louisville had it rolling, playing with pace and knocking an abundance of threes. The game favored their style of play, and they found success playing up-tempo. On the half, they went 10-for-21 from deep, converting threes both off the catch and off the dribble.
However, in the second half, Duke changed their defensive coverages and locked in on Louisville’s perimeter shooters. They enhanced their ball-pressure and were more attentive off the ball. They also fought over screens and didn’t let Louisville ease into open looks.
In totality, a lot of Louisville’s looks became contested, weren’t in transition, and mostly, weren’t in rhythm. They only converted 2-of-17 threes in the second half.
Additionally, a key factor for that lack of rhythm was the consistent stoppage of play due to Louisville’s fouling issues.
Kelsey added the following regarding fouling and flow: “We start fouling…again. We weren’t able to get out in transition because they (Duke) are standing at the free-throw line and we are taking the ball out of the net.”
Louisville’s rhythm stalled, and so did the ball movement and assist generation. Kelsey went on to add, “I don’t know how many assists we had in the second half, but it wasn’t many. I didn’t feel like we shared the ball, there wasn’t a lot of ball movement, and we didn’t have a lot of rhythm.” The Cardinals only had four assists for the half, including eight turnovers, as well.
