LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The University of Louisville men’s basketball team lost to No. 15 Texas on a contested jumper at the buzzer last Sunday, and that was generally viewed as progress. Cards' coach Kenny Payne said he heard good things from people about Louisville's performance.
The Cardinals followed that effort by outplaying Indiana for long stretches of a game the next day at Madison Square Garden. U of L lost by eight, but that was not considered a terrible thing.
But this week Payne’s team has two home games. They can’t settle for progress or performances that are not terrible things.
They need victories. Two of them.
Somehow, the Cardinals got one Sunday afternoon, 90-84, in overtime over New Mexico State.
I’ll need time to understand or explain what happened. Days. Perhaps weeks.
Months?
"I wish I could say we played great, but we didn't," Payne said. "We actually played poorly. But we came out and got a win. A year ago that could have easily been a loss or a 15-point loss."
Louisville could not make 3-point shots. They missed their first seven, as well as 12 of their first 14. The finished 4 for 20, a brutal 20%.
But, of course, Tre White made the one that mattered most to tie the game with 21 seconds to play.
"I was trying to create for one (of his teammates) but I guess they took that away," White said. "They just gave me the open three. I walked into it and held it."
They missed too many free throws -- four in the first half, five in the second. Several were the front end of a bonus. But, of course, they made 15 of 19 in a 5-minute overtime period that stretched over 32 minutes.
They never led by more than a point in regulation. But, of course, they did not trail for a second in overtime.
"Keep fighting," Payne said. "Keep fighting. You'll get a break if you keep fighting. Something's going to turn. You've just got to be ready for it to turn."
They trailed by 8 points with 1 minute and 18 seconds to play. They needed Aggies' center Kaosi Ezeagu to miss not one, but two free throws with 1.5 seconds to play.
"We were just praying he missed those free throws," U of L guard Skyy Clark said. "The crowd (10,527) was the one that got him off his game."
Six New Mexico State players fouled out and two others earned four personal fouls. The Aggies played the final 21.9 seconds with four players.
And yet … the Cards did not secure this one until Clark made two free throws with 12.1 left in overtime.
Credit Clark with 29 points. He made 15 (of 16) free throws, one off the school record. He drew 13 opposing fouls. That's attacking the rim. Clark looks better paired with freshman Ty-Laur Johnson.
Tre White had 22 and J.J. Traynor scored a career-high 20 as Louisville improved to 3-3.
Strange game basketball. Louisville looked better losing to Texas and Indiana than it did defeating New Mexico State. The Cards dropped 10 spots to No. 161 in Ken Pomeroy's computer power formula an hour after the game.
New Mexico State came to the KFC Yum! Center ranked No. 258 in Pomeroy. The Aggies were 3-4 and had allowed 81 points in both games while losing to Fresno State and Southern Illinois in the last week.
The Aggies entered the season as a broken program that canceled their 2022-23 season in early February because of off-the-court issues.
Don’t forget this: Femi Odukale, the Aggies’ top scorer and rebounder, missed the game with an injury.
But a year ago, odds are Louisville would have lost a game like this. It happened several times.
"It shows our resilience and our fight," Traynor said. "We wouldn't stay together in times like this. We'd break and not make that play to win that game. This year I feel like we make those plays."
The Cards labored through the first half. They took seven shots from distance. They missed seven shots from distance. Clank. Boink. Clank.
"The shots weren't falling," Clark said. "We settled for too many threes, even though they were good looks. We're more of a driving team until the shots start falling."
Not only did they fail to lead, they trailed by as many as 10 points against a team that Kentucky beat by 40.
Bellarmine is next for the Cardinals. Scott Davenport’s team lost at West Virginia 62-58 late Sunday afternoon. The Knights are 2-5 but have also played at Washington, Kansas State, Chattanooga and Bowling Green.
They defeated Louisville last season, 67-66, in Payne’s debut game. The basketball world remembers that.
"That's a really good team and good program," Traynor said. "It's a game we marked on our calendar. We're going to do everything and our best to prepare for it and take the challenge."
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