By Harry Barsan and Derek DeBurger

The Cardinals lead wire-to-wire en route to a 93-45 dominating victory over the Morehead State Eagles. The 48 point margin of victory is Louisville mens’ biggest on opening day since they trounced South Alabama 92-38 over two decades ago. It was also the first time they played Morehead State on opening day since 2008.

That season? The Cards finished 1st in the final AP Poll.

The hype is real.

The Doctors of Dunk

The Cards seized a hold of the game swiftly with an alley-oop from Chucky Hepburn to James Scott to mark the first points of the Pat Kelsey era.

Scott tacked on three more alley oops before the end of the contest, including one to open up the second half, as he notched 12 points on 75% shooting.

Louisville continued to attack the paint, hitting layups and drawing fouls. Dieonte Mills, Morehead’s seven-footer, picked up two quick fouls allowing the Cards to dominate the paint even more than they already were.

The offense for the Cards hit a lull in the middle of the first half, but during this time the Louisville defense stepped up in a major way. Morehead went long stretches without scoring, with their longest drought being almost six minutes.

Louisville returned to form offensively to end the half while keeping up their smother defense.

The Eagles only had three made field goals in the first half on 27 attempts.

Louisville led at the half 41-14.

In the second half, it was a tall task to ask the Cards to maintain their defensive production, but their increased offensive output more than made up for it.

Kasean Pryor came out of the half with a mission that he was determined to accomplish. Pryor made a statement with his 18 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals, all were game-highs. He also added a block to his stat sheet.

The rest of the game was all Cards all the time, as they cruised to the first victory under Kelsey.

Louisville won 93-45.

The Reviville

It seemed like everybody was eating this game.

Five different players scored 12-plus points, including Reyne Smith who scored all of his points on three-pointers.

Terrence Edwards Jr. and Scott both notched a dozen, while J’vonne Hadley scored 15.

Perhaps most importantly, we learned the Cards’ game does translate to the court.

Hype about transfers and blowouts in the preseason can only mean so much. The Cardinals made a statement victory in front of a massive crowd, instilling confidence in Kelsey’s ability to lead Louisville back to the promised land.

Surprisingly, Louisville’s defense looked dominant. The Cards held Morehead to 23.1% shooting on the game and forced 21 turnovers, leading to 29 points off turnovers.

The game was not perfect, however, as Louisville shot 30% on 11-of-36 shooting from deep. The Cards passed up on many good looks for better ones. But Louisville failed to space the floor properly, giving Morehead easy paths to close out on swing passes and guard shooters.

Additionally, the team shot 64% in 18-28 on free throws. Again, while not significantly impactful in a blowout, this raises yet another emphasis on future needs of the team. While players like Hadley and Hepburn were perfect from the line, 64% shooting just won’t always cut it in more competitive conference games.

Altogether, this team really looked like a well-oiled machine. The offense was churning, and the defense looked menacing. There were a handful moments in the second half where the crowd was so boisterous you would have thought we just reclaimed the lead after a mega comeback. But it was just the Cardinal faithful feeling the Reviville in their bones, and the game on the court surely reflects that.

Louisville is now 1-0 on the year. They will face Tennessee Saturday during a white-out at the KFC Yum! Center.

Photo by Alex Woodard