These early games can be misleading but the University of Louisville basketball team made it look a little too easy in an 84-70 win over Chattanooga in front of 13,017 fans at the KFC Yum! Center. The final score not indicative of decisively the Cardinals handled the visiting Moccasins.
At one point in the first half, Louisville owned a 37-14 lead. The Cards shot 56.8% from the floor during the first half, firing a 41.1% clip from beyond the arc. Louisville also held Chattanooga to just one offensive board in the entire first half. Chattanooga slowly whittled away at the lead in the second half, using a 6-0 run and a separate 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 15 points.
One of those late night tipoffs possibly taking a toll on the Cardinals against a lesser opponent.
“We played really well in the first half and played very poorly in the second half, you credit to Coach [Dan] Earl and Chattanooga for that,” said UofL head coach Pat Kelsey. “Always give credit to your opponent, and I always do that, they are very well coached. We were up 25 with a minute left in the first half and they outscored us by 11 from that point out, maybe more …”
The late Chattanooga rally not a major concern since the visitors were clearly outclassed, obviously affecting UofL’s level of intensity in the second half. An ideal situation for Coach Pat Kelsey to provide plenty of playing time all around, with 10 players seeing action.
UofL had five players scoring in double figures in the game, led by Flory Bidunga with 15 points. Junior guard Karter Knox was the leading rebounder with a career-high 11 boards. He also had nine points, two steals and an assist.
