By Elizabeth Scanland

The Louisville Cardinals took down cross-town foe the Bellarmine Knights in a rout.

The way things should be

The Cards got off to a little bit of a slow start by missing a three-point shot and turning the ball over that led to easy points for the Knights. However, a Chucky Hepburn jump shot put the Cards on the board.

After ball-to-back threes by Kasean Pryor, Louisville would tie and then take the lead. After this, it was lights out for the Cards as they would hold lead for the rest of the game.

During the final 10 minutes of the first half, Louisville would hold Bellarmine to just 11 points.

Terrance Edwards Jr. and Pryor dominated the first, combining for 27 points in the first and 47 for the game.

Louisville led 48-27 at the half.

In the second half, the Cards had full control on the court with noticeable defensive and rebounding improvements.

After giving up the first bucket, Louisville went on a 7-0 run to extend their lead even further.

Things got interesting about halfway through the second with a flagrant one foul called on Edwards Jr. The James Madison transfer seemed to own up to the foul, but the refs still had to step in later in the game to keep the two sides from jawing at each other during an inbounds play.

With just over two-and-a-half minutes left, Bellarmine’s Dylan Branson was called for a flagrant two foul after pushing Pryor in the back on a rebound attempt. The foul call led to four-straight points for Pryor at the line.

With a 1:24 left on the clock, Edwards Jr. made a layup giving the Cards 100 points.

Louisville won handily, 100-68.

Baby steps

There’s no doubt Louisville looked a lot better than their most recent game against Tennessee.

There was a significant increase in rebounding and Louisville was able to control the ball better and limit turnovers, having only nine on the night. The defense was also noticeably better forcing 16 turnovers and coming away with seven steals.

However despite this, three-point shooting needs to be cleaned up as Louisville went 34.3% from deep. The problem is not a lack of shooters behind the arc, the problem is that Louisville continually gets run off the line.

Bellarmine also gave up an 11-0 run in the second half, with Ben Johnson scoring nine of those points. Hepburn was on the bench during this run, and the Cards were noticeably without Koren Johnson who was out with  shoulder injury. Hepburn had a nice night with 16 points and five assists, but Tuesday’s game was a showcase in how important he is to the success of the team.

Overall, Louisville seems to be improving and on the upward climb, with a lot more work to do.

Louisville advances to 2-1 and will face Winthrop back at home on Friday night.

Photo by Alex Woodard