By Derek DeBurger

No. 11 Louisville went down to Knoxville and took a humiliating loss to the No. 20 Tennessee Volunteers.

Mikel Brown Jr. was ruled out before the game due to a lower back injury. Adrian Wooley started in his place.

Hang in there

The game started and it looked awfully similar to last year’s drubbing awfully quickly.

Tennessee was the aggressor on defense, and Ja’Kobi Gilliespie hit a circus shot from deep as the shot clock ran down.

But Wooley was able to snap the Cards out of it, scoring a driving layup and a triple. A possession later, Wooley lobbed it up for Sananda Fru and a 7-5 lead.

Louisville was battling with the Vols until a string of turnovers gave Tennessee several easy shots in a row.

From there Tennessee imposed their will on the game, completely wrecking the style Pat Kelsey wants to play.

However, Louisville hung around in spite of playing so below their standard. On multiple occasions the Cards were able to cut the lead down to just five points, including a huge three-pointer right before the half by Ryan Conwell.

But a layup from the Vols would push that lead right up to seven.

Louisville went into halftime down 34-27.

Rocky

Louisville stayed tighter than most would have expected without their freshman phenom, but the lack of firepower finally caught up with them.

Tennessee pushed their lead back out to double-digits, with the Cards having trouble breaking through.

Wooley hit a big three to get back within single-digits, but three consecutive possessions where Tennessee was able to get off three wide open shots from deep put the game permanently out of reach.

After falling behind by 15 points, Louisville was completely ineffective. The lead ballooned as high as 25 before the buzzer put the Cards out of their misery.

Louisville lost 83-62.

Déjà vu

Louisville looked like a deer in headlights for the second time in as many matchups against Tennessee.

It’s not just that they fell flat against the more physical defense of the Volunteers, but that they gave up so many points to an offense that struggles so much in the half court.

Brown’s presence would have made a difference for the better, but Louisville could have gritted out a win without him.

Wooley played great in his absence, scoring 19 points on 6-for-13 from the field.

Conwell led the team with 22 points, but shot a horrible 4-for-13 from beyond the arc.

The bench was terrible, scoring only three points on one made field goal combined.

On specific player who is in a huge slump is Isaac McKneely. The senior guard hit his first shot of the game in garbage time, marking his first made field goal in over 80 minutes of game time.

Kelsey needs to get him going if Louisville’s offense is going to live up to its potential.

Louisville is now 9-2 on the season.

Photo Courtesy / Taris Smith / Louisville Athletics