BOZICH | Louisville, Payne ignore the noise, thump Pepperdine, 85-63 | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For two hours Sunday afternoon the talk was simply about basketball, for stretches the best basketball the University of Louisville men's team has played over this uneven season.

Not the fate of coach Kenny Payne, who will be the Cards' coach Thursday night when they play Kentucky, no matter what the Twitter insiders tell you.

There will be no Monday announcement. Payne met with U of L athletic director Josh Heird last week but said the conversation was about improving the performance of the program.

When asked directly if he talked to Heird about the status of his job, Payne said, "I have not ... I believe Josh (Heird) wants us to be good. He wants us to make this fan base proud. I know he wants the guys to enjoy being here. I have the same goals.”

It has also been reported that Heird met with at least one Louisville player, likely Mike James, and perhaps a second, to gauge the vibe of the locker room. Asked if he talked to Heird, James said it was not a topic he believed should be addressed in a press conference.

So for two hours all that stuff was put on hold.

Now the Cards can have a different conversation -- about an old-fashioned, crisp, coldly efficient, one-sided victory — U of L 85, Pepperdine 63.

"You have to go out and challenge the doubt that you may have, the fears that you may have and go out and perform," Payne said. "If you can conquer yourself, the opponent becomes easy. I thought we were aggressive and attacking."

And about the possibility of a big recruiting win. On Sunday, five-star forward Karter Knox was in the KFC Yum! Center with his parents and sister, reportedly enjoying their visit. Payne took the family to the airport late Sunday afternoon.

The talk Sunday was simply about the Cards ending their three-game losing streak. They improved to 5-6, exceeding their victory total from last season. They had fans standing, applauding and enjoying their time downtown.

Four players scored in double figures. Louisville moved the ball and shared the ball, generating a season high 17 assists on 32 field goals. They made nine shots from distance. The victory margin was the largest of the Payne era.

As speculation soared about job security, Payne huddled with his team last week. The players were hurt by the booing they received at the end of their ugly loss to Arkansas State Wednesday night.

“The Arkansas State game hit home for me; at the end of the game our fans were booing us," U of L forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield said. "That's something I have never experienced, and never want to feel that way again."

Payne told me that he told his guys that the fans were booing him, not them. He also knows at a legacy college basketball program like Louisville, if you accept the praise, you have to swallow the criticism.

"I talked to the guys about if they have quit on each other," Payne said. "Have they quit on the team? Have they quit on themselves?

"They vehemently denied that they had. They said they believed in each other. Then I said, then let's practice like way, like you believe in each other and that you want to share with each other. And then they went out and did it.”

Nobody has improved more than Huntley-Hatfield. His body language screams that winning and losing matters to him.

Word is that the booing by the home crowd Wednesday night moved Huntley-Hatfield to tears in the locker room after the game.

Huntley-Hatfield moved Pepperdine to tears. He dominated the backboards at both ends of the court. He rebounded a dozen shots and scored 20 points, forcing his way to the line to make 8 of 11 free throw attempts.

"He had 20 points and 12 rebounds, that could have easily been 28 points and 16 rebounds easily," Payne said. "That is what I want to see. I want to see him max out – to reach the most he can reach with his potential.”

For Huntley-Hatfleld, it was his second consecutive 20-point game. Over the last four games he has averaged 14.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.

"I've had ups and downs ever since the beginning of my career, so for me, it's about believing that I'm a good basketball player," Huntley-Hatfield said.

"I can be a top player in this country and I'm tired of what they're saying about our team. I know I can be a big piece in our success so I have trust in my teammates and they have trust in me. It's not about me, it's about us."

Curtis Williams looked like the guy that former U of L players predicted he would be during summer workouts. Credit Williams with a season best 16 points, including four baskets from distance.

Mike James looked like the Mike James from the second half of last season. He scored 19 points with 6 rebounds.

Remember this was Pepperdine, a program that had lost 15 straight road games as well as 35 of 36 games away from home. At No. 217, Pepperdine became the best win on the Louisville schedule.

Although the Cards moved up 28 spots, from No. 204 to 176 in Ken Pomeroy's computer power formula after the win, KenPom shows U of L as an underdog in its next 12 games.

You know what is next: John Calipari and Kentucky will sweep into downtown for the annual rivalry game at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The Wildcats improved to 8-2 by defeating North Carolina, 87-83, in Atlanta Saturday. Odds are Kentucky fans will fill well over half the seats for the Wildcats' first game in an opposing team's arena this season.