No. 12 Louisville can equal its best start in five years during a home game against Ohio on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals (3-0) enter the contest on an emotional high, having beaten No. 9 Kentucky 96-88 at home on Tuesday. While a letdown is possible, the players already were talking about what was next after defeating the Wildcats.
“We’re all happy we got the job done, but we also have to keep it moving,” Ryan Conwell said Tuesday night. “The season is not over. We have more games to play, so we have to continue to prepare each and every single day.”
Conwell scored 24 points against Kentucky, while freshman Mikel Brown Jr. had 29 and dished out five assists. The two guards, who were preseason All-ACC first-team selections, are among six Cardinals averaging double-digit scoring. Brown leads the team with a 19.3 average, with Conwell right behind at 18.3.
Brown is one of only six players who are averaging 19 or more points and six or more assists per game this season. It’s quite the turnaround for a player who shot 2-for-15 and dished only two assists in an exhibition game against Kansas on Oct. 24.
Coach Pat Kelsey said Brown put a lot of pressure on himself in the Kansas game, which while not an official game was his first in a Louisville uniform.
“He always works hard,” Kelsey said on Tuesday. “He’s mature beyond his years, but he’s been a monster ever since that game.”
The Cardinals have scored 96 or more points in three straight for the first time in the shot clock era. The last time Louisville had such a streak occurred in December 1971, when the team achieved it over four games in a row.
Not only is Louisville putting the ball in the basket, but the Cardinals also are taking care of their possessions. They committed just six turnovers in the win over Kentucky, making it the fourth time under their second-year coach that the Cardinals scored 90 or more points while committing seven or fewer turnovers.
The Bobcats (1-2) are coming off a 90-60 loss to Saint Mary’s in Moraga, Calif., on Tuesday. Traveling cross-country may have taken a toll on coach Jeff Boals’ team as Ohio shot just 37.5% from the field (24-for-64) and 25% from the 3-point arc (6-for-24).
Jackson Paveletzke led the Bobcats with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. The senior guard, a preseason All-MAC first-team selection by the conference’s coaches, is scoring a team-best 18 points per game.
Aidan Hadaway (15.3 ppg) and Javan Simmons (14 ppg) are also key contributors for a team that was picked to finish fourth in the MAC this season.
“To have a core group back is really big at our level, and you see the better teams in our league retain a core group,” Boals said.
The Saturday game will be a homecoming of sorts for Ohio sophomore Ayden Evans, who played his high school ball in Elizabethtown, Ky., about 45 minutes south of Louisville. The 6-foot-10 sophomore made his season debut in the Tuesday loss, scoring eight points in 12 minutes.
