By Derek DeBurger

Louisville beat the Bucknell Bisons in their second and final exhibition game before the official start of the season.

Rusty buckets

The Cards got off to a bit of a slow start, not exerting the will from the opening tip.

The game was back-and-forth or the first 12 minutes, with Bucknell even holding up to a five-point lead. The one saving grace for the Cards was the play of Mikel Brown Jr. keeping them competitive.

Once the score hit 32-27, Louisville finally woke up and started to establish themselves. It started with a three-pointer from Isaac McKneely and rolled on from there.

By the half, Louisville was up 56-39.

In the second half, Louisville got Sananda Fru more involved.

While the German big man was never the focus of the offense, he played about two thirds of his minutes in the second with a much higher usage rate in the three halves prior.

Brown and McKneely continued to light it up, going a combined 14-of-20 from deep.

Once it was all said and done, Louisville won 99-76.

It’s all fun and games

After getting their act together, Louisville played much better than they did against Kansas.

Brown led all players with 28 points and six assists on incredible efficiency, even carrying the team when they struggled most.

Ryan Conwell also had a solid night with 15 points and eight rebounds.

What remains the biggest question mark, however, was the biggest question mark before this team even set foot on a court together: the frontcourt.

Fru and Vangelis Zougris played both sparingly and poorly against Kansas. And in the first half against Bucknell, that stayed true.

In the first half, the two bigs combined for 11 minutes, four points, two rebounds, three fouls and three turnovers.

Those are horrible numbers against mid-major competition.

While the production of the middle is concerning, part of the disappointment could be attributed to the tough officiating.

Even with the 1-1 record in exhibitions this offseason, the Cards start off the year like they do every year at 0-0.

Louisville will tip off against SC State Monday at 9 p.m. to start their 112th campaign.

Photo by Vinny Porco / The Louisville Cardinal