By Harrison Plank

No. 16 Louisville dropped a thriller against the Stanford Cardinal to complete the team’s California road trip.

Mikel Brown Jr. was out once again, missing his fourth straight game after suffering a lower back injury.

It’s all about downtown

After winning the tip, Louisville missed a pair of missed threes, giving Stanford the opportunity to strike first.

The Cardinals eventually found their footing with a post hook from Sananda Fru, then Issac McKneely off a deep three to take Louisville up 5-4.

Both teams traded blows until Stanford star freshman Ebuka Okorie made his presence known. He assisted on a three-pointer, forced a turnover then rattled in one of his own from beyond the arc, putting Stanford up 19-13.

McKneely would respond with a triple of his own, but the Stanford defense kept the Cardinals in check from beyond the arc. Louisville missed their next seven triples.

Ryan Conwell finally hit a contested shot from deep, his first triple of the game and Louisville’s first in over nine minutes.

Conwell later drove and missed a pull up jumper, but Fru was there for the tip-in to end the first half on a 9-2 Louisville run.

Louisville went into the break trailing 35-34.

Long half at the farm

McKneely found an open shot from deep to take a 37-35 lead right out of the break.

Both teams were playing well, traded shots and leads. The lead changed a total of 20 times by the end of the 40 minutes.

Eventually a tough and-1 layup for Stanford’s Chisom Okpara capped off a 6-0 run for Stanford and gave them a 57-52 lead.

Pat Kelsey was forced into a timeout to regroup his players.

After clawing back to make it close, Khani Rooths would go on to hit a monster three to tie the game 65-65. But Stanford’s Ryan Agerwal would respond almost immediately with one of his own to put them up 68-65.

McKneely and Fru would make two tough baskets late to cut the score to just two points, but Louisville was playing the foul game and was out of reach with just one hit free throw.

Louisville lost 80-76.

Cardinal > Cardinals

For the first time in the histories of either program, Stanford beat Louisville.

But the loss should actually come as little surprise, as in ten California road trips since the two teams joined the ACC, only one team has won both matchups.

Stanford’s Defense, and their star freshman, showed up to play. They Limited Louisville to 6-for-27 from deep for the game, by far one of their worst shooting performances this season.

Okorie led all scorers, notching 28 points and scoring in any way he saw fit.

Louisville’s Sananda Fru has stepped up in the absence of Brown, recording 15 on the night, but his help in the paint with second-chance rebounds for the Cards kept them alive down the stretch.

Conwell scored 18 points to lead the scoring for the Cards, but fouled out late in the contest.

Louisville is now 11-3 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.

They will look to redeem themselves against No. 5 Duke in what will be their biggest test of the season.

Photo Courtesy / Eli Dych / Louisville Athletics