By Derek DeBurger
Louisville suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Chattanooga Mocs, reminiscent of the shortcomings of last year’s Cards squad.
What started out competitive turned into a blowout in the second half, and only barely narrowed up at the very end of the game in an attempt to save face.
The Cards took a 3-0 lead at the start off of a three from wing Mike James. That was the last time Louisville would lead all game.
The Mocs took the lead 7-5 with 15:56 left in the first half, leaving the Cards to trail for the remainder of the game. Chattanooga took a six-point lead into the half and would balloon the lead to 21 before ultimately winning by just 10 with a final score of 81-71.
This became the only double-digit home loss in November in program history.
Where it all went wrong
Everything bad that the Cards did a year ago made a triumphant comeback in Friday’s contest.
The Cards had 15 turnovers to just 11 assists; the opponent shot the lights out from three, shooting 41.2%; nobody boxed out on rebounds, allowing 41 rebounds to a team that is vastly smaller and less athletic than the Cards. Almost nothing looked good.
The Mocs had two players play way above their usual level of performance—each scoring over 20 points—adding to a long list of players over the past few years that the Cards have let get hot and done nothing to adjust the game plan to stop.
The lone bright spot you can point to is the continued improvement of players who have returned from last year’s roster. James tied wing Tre Jones with a game-high 17 points, and he did so with an impressive four-of-six shooting from behind the arc after struggling to consistently shoot from deep a year ago. Forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield also looked much improved grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds, and just generally looking more aggressive and energized.
Head coach Kenny Payne had the reputation as an assistant coach as someone who was a dynamite recruiter and who developed NBA-level talent. For all the letdowns from Payne’s short tenure, he clearly is a great developer of talent.
A loss like this is just sad, but what’s even sadder is that it’s not unexpected. Louisville is without question one of the best programs in college basketball history, but that reputation is quickly souring. Only two games into the season, Payne needs to try and salvage things quickly before yet another season gets away from him.
Photo Courtesy // Adam Creech, U of L Athletics
