By SAM LANCE
The Louisville program seems to be officially back under new head coach Pat Kelsey.
Despite a 69-64 loss to Oklahoma in the championship game in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday, the Cardinals had a hell of a week in the Bahamas. Louisville dominated No. 14 Indiana in the first round of the tournament and went on to beat a solid West Virginia team, who had just topped No. 3 Gonzaga, to get to the title game vs. Oklahoma.
“They like to win around here,” Kelsey said on ESPN before the championship game. “And I was hired for a reason and that’s to put Louisville back in its rightful place in college basketball.”
So far, Kelsey has lived up to his own expectation. The Cardinals now sit at 5-2 with a couple quality wins and losses against No. 7 Tennessee and Oklahoma, who are bound to be ranked after its Atlantis performance. The Cardinals still have games against Ole Miss and Kentucky to boost their resume in the non conference before ACC play.
The Cardinals will likely be an NCAA Tournament team if they split one of those games vs. the SEC programs and go .500 in the ACC. Their record would be 18-13 in that scenario with a few wins against tournament teams in the non conference slate. It’s likely the Cardinals finish better. Kenpom projects a final record of 21-10 and 13-7 in conference.
Since Rick Pitino left the Louisville program after the 2016-17 season and before Kelsey, the Cardinals had a record of 104-113 and made the NCAA Tournament just once. In the last two seasons under Kenny Payne, Louisville was 12-52 and didn’t have a single win over a ranked team. Kelsey has already topped Payne in the ranked wins category.
Louisville has been led this season by a solid core of veteran transfers, including former Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn, former Charleston guard Reyne Smith, former USF forward Kasean Pryor and former James Madison forward Terrence Edwards Jr. All are averaging double-figure scoring, led by Hepburn at 15.0 points per game.
In the championship game, Hepburn had a team-high 12 points in the loss. The Cardinals inefficient shooting led the loss to Oklahoma. Louisville shot just 38% from the field and 9-of-16 (56%) from the free throw line, offsetting its huge 44-23 rebounding advantage. Oklahoma forward Jalon Moore scored a game-high 24 points to secure the dub for the Sooners.
Pryor suffered a leg injury late in the game. Per WDRB.com, Kelsey did not comment on his condition postgame. The play-by-play broadcast said Pryor returned to the court in a wheelchair. That could be a huge loss for the Cardinals if he’s out for an extended period of time.
Oklahoma and Porter Moser may be the big winners of Feast Week after securing the Battle 4 Atlantis title.
Follow Sam Lance on Twitter Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on FacebookPorter Moser and the Oklahoma Sooners are 7-0 and winners in Atlantis.
— Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) November 30, 2024
Needle-moving week in the Bahamas for this OU team, clearly ahead of schedule. Will head into SEC play with some meat on the bone résumé-wise.
