The University of Louisville men’s basketball team cruised to a 106-59 exhibition win over Young Harris on Monday night at the KFC Yum! Center.
“It was great to be out there with the lights on,” said Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey. “I told Josh (Heird) that I have coached hundreds of games as a head coach and been in NCAA tournaments, but the nerves today were on another level. It’s been a crazy seven months, and to finally be out there on those sidelines was special. The ovation when we came out was great. Our guys jumped on them from the tip, hitting a lot of threes in the first half, which really got us going.”
Louisville opened the game with a dominant 16-2 run, holding Young Harris scoreless for the first three and a half minutes. The Cardinals extended their first-half lead with a 10-0 run between 3:47 and 2:08, making it 55-24. Louisville closed the half on an 18-3 run, sparked by consecutive 3-pointers from Noah Waterman, and led 63-27 at the break. Terrence Edwards Jr. was pivotal, scoring 22 of those first-half points and hitting six of eight shots from beyond the arc.
Though Louisville’s second half started more slowly, the pace picked up around the 15-minute mark. The Cardinals went on a 12-0 run from 14:23 to 11:01, increasing their lead to 84-37. The run included 3-pointers from Koren Johnson, Chucky Hepburn, and Reyne Smith, and was capped off by three points from sophomore James Scott. Louisville’s lead swelled to as much as 50 points late in the game.
The Cardinals set a new program record with 24 made 3-point field goals, surpassing their previous record of 22. Eleven players scored in the game, led by Edwards Jr. with 24 points. Reyne Smith followed with 20 points, also sinking six 3-pointers. Hepburn and Johnson each tallied seven assists, with only two combined turnovers between them.
Louisville will play its second and final exhibition game next Monday against Spalding, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. ET at the KFC Yum! Center.
