BOZICH | Louisville checks out early in 69-52 loss to Virginia | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — This — Virginia 69, Louisville 52 — was beyond rock bottom.

Worse than Chattanooga. Worse than DePaul. Worse than Arkansas State. Worse than (fill in the blank).

Worse than any of the other 41 losses that preceded it over the one-plus seasons of the Kenny Payne Era for the University of Louisville men’s basketball program.

Worse than any words or statistics or analysis can communicate.

Unacceptably bad. Incompetently bad. Hauntingly bad.

"They came out and handled us pretty much all over the court," Payne said.

Feel free to use the word embarrassed. Payne did. So did Louisville center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. Trailing 41-11 in the first half generates that word.

"We never like to get embarrassed like we did today," Huntley-Hatfield said.

"We know we're a better team than last year. We know we are a better team than the games that we have put out. It's just about having the mental capacity to figure it out together."

Louisville lost to Virginia Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center in a brutally one-sided way. This one was over after roughly 17 dribbles. Payne’s team trailed by 30 points in the first half.

Think of it this way: The Virginia team that led by 30 (41-11) is the same Virginia team that failed to score 30 points in the first half in 10 games this season.

The record shows that you likely need to make at least 10 three-point shots to beat Virginia and Tony Bennett’s Pack Line defense.

Louisville did not make 10 three-point field goals.

Louisville did not take their 10th three-point attempt until there were less than 3 minutes to play.

The Cards took 11. They made three.

Payne said the reason was Louisville did not work the ball inside out to create open shots. Bennett said that his team has improved its defensive performance in recent weeks.

"We were there (to shooters) quicker than we were in other games," Bennett said.

Pick either reason. The result was that Louisville had no answer for Virginia's defensive intensity.

The Cards drove into the teeth of the Virginia defense and found a bellyful of misery. Blocked shots (5). Altered shots. Turnovers. Rarely anything productive, just four field goals in the first 20 minutes.

"We're down 10-0; we're down 15-0; it just keeps snowballing and stuff," Huntley-Hatfield said.

"That was the frustrating part. We had two good days of preparation with our defense. We're finding improvement. We're finding our footing. We're just not puttingt it together."

Virginia scored the first 11 points. Louisville did not score at all for nearly six minutes. The Cardinals did not make a field goal until 7 minutes and 14 seconds had been played.

Louisville finished the first half with 13 points. Virginia finished the first half with 41. Mark it down as the fifth consecutive game that the Cards trailed by double figures at some point in the first half — as well as their fifth consecutive loss since the upset at Miami that had a chance to be a pivot in this season for this team.

The Cards are 6-14 overall, 1-8 at the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"We need guys to be maxed out or close to maxed out with their effort, their energy, their focus," Payne said.

"You can't have a bunch of guys having bad games on the same day playing in ACC. You just can't."

Louisville finished the first half with four field goals. Louisville finished the first half with one assist and 10 turnovers.

Louisville finished the first half looking like a squad that checked out of this game. Payne said that junior Mike James got emotional with his teammates in the locker room before the coaches addressed the squad.

The second half was better. Louisville made half of its 22 shots. They cut their turnovers to 8 (still too many). Emmanuel Okorafor returned from an ankle injury to contribute 6 points, 4 rebounds and a block in the final 10 minutes.

Didn't matter.

This is not a great Virginia team. The Cavaliers went on the road and lost by double figures to Notre Dame, Wake Forest and North Carolina State.

All of those teams made at least 10 three-point field goals and two of them dominated Virginia on the glass.

Louisville did not make 10 three-point field goals. The Cards got a single three-pointer from Tre White a little more than 8 minutes into the game.

The end -- until Curtis Williams made a pair in the final 3 minutes.

They did not have a successful plan to get open looks.

Louisville did not dominate Virginia on the glass. They out-rebounded the visitors by three.

"I just think it's on all of us," Huntley-Hatfield said. "There's nothing that our coaches can draw up on a board for us to come out and execute."

The show must go on. The show goes to Clemson for 9 p.m. game on Tuesday and then back home for a visit by Florida State at 8 p.m. next Saturday.

"We're gonna keep plugging away," Payne said. "We're gonna keep pushing them. We're gonna keep loving them.

"I love this team. I love these kids. I think they can figure it out. I think they'd gotten better.

"I'm in no way discouraged. I'm embarrassed because I don't want to lose. I don't want them to lose. I want them to succeed. I want them to overcome their barriers. I want them to overcome their fears.

"And a lot of this is they've got to get through. So you've got to go through it. It's not going to be easy."

But it can't be as hard as the Cardinals made it look Saturday.