Tag: Louisville basketball

Tre White is missed by USC and is enduring a difficult season at Louisville

Would Tre White like to revise his decision to transfer to Louisville? USC really could have used him this season.

The USC men’s basketball season has gone horribly wrong. As we piece together various reasons for the collapse, we obviously know that Andy Enfield is failing at his job. That is by far the number one reason, but it’s far too simplistic an explanation. Other reasons exist as well, and it’s worth spending a little time to explore those reasons.

This isn’t by any means an attempt to let Andy Enfield off the hook. We think he should be fired if USC fails to make the NCAA Tournament, which looks like a probable outcome right now. Nevertheless, there are other reasons for this dramatic decline, and we should try to paint a fuller picture of this bitter disappointment for the Trojans.

One of many non-Enfield reasons for the Trojans’ struggles this season is the absence of Tre White. I’m not sure people realize — in light of USC’s problems — how valuable Tre White was to last season’s team, which made the NCAA Tournament.

White was a bigger, longer defender who was good for some timely baskets but who, more than that, was the worker-bee type of player Andy Enfield loves and knows how to coach well.

We can see that Enfield can’t coach blue-chip talent very smoothly, but Enfield — a good coach — has worked wonders with blue-collar guys. White was one of them. He followed in the Chevez Goodwin, Drew Peterson mold, a hungry player who wasn’t flashy but always gave great effort at the defensive end of the floor. USC’s defense hasn’t been up to par this season. White’s effort and length made the Trojans so much better at that end. USC really misses him.

What is especially unfortunate here is that White isn’t getting a better outcome — or better coaching — at his new stop. Louisville is a mess under coach Kenny Payne. The Cardinal are 5-7 and going nowhere. Payne is likely to be fired by the end of the season if not sooner.

One wonders if White would like to revise his decision to transfer to Louisville. Alas, he can’t revoke that decision in time to change USC’s fortunes in 2024.

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No. 9 Kentucky at Louisville tickets: How to buy tickets for the in-state showdown

Want to watch Kentucky vs. Louisville in person? Tickets are still available for as little as $83.

After a big win against North Carolina, the Kentucky Wildcats moved all the way up to No. 9 in the most recent USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

While it hasn’t been the best start to the year for Louisville, nothing would turn their season around faster than a big win over their in-state rivals.

The Cardinals host the Wildcats on Thursday, Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. EST.

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If you want to be a part of the action in person, tickets still remain for this matchup between two of the winningest programs in the history of men’s college basketball.

At the time of publication, the cheapest ticket available for the game is only $83.

If you’re looking for a more luxurious, courtside experience, the most expensive ticket to tonight’s game would only cost you $759.

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Everything we know about Louisville’s bizarre dismissal of Koron Davis after his refuted transfer report

Louisville said then Davis was transferring. He denied the report, then chaos ensued.

The Louisville men’s basketball program is in the middle of one of the strangest sagas in college sports.

After one of the most disappointing seasons in program history last season, second-year head coach Kenny Payne was given another chance to revamp its roster during the offseason.

One of the scholarships available was given to 6-foot-7 junior college transfer Koron Davis.

The former Los Angeles Southwest Community College guard never actually played a game for Louisville, however, and his entire time with the program was shrouded in mystery.

While there is still plenty unraveling about this story, here is what we know so far:

Tre White bails Louisville, coach Kenny Payne out of home loss to New Mexico State

Tre White had 22 points including a game-tying three to help lead the Louisville Cardinals to a narrow win over the New Mexico State Aggies.

If it weren’t for some late-game heroics by forward Tre White, the Louisville Cardinals would have suffered a home loss to a sub-250 ranked team at KenPom in New Mexico State, and you can bet the calls for coach Kenny Payne’s job would have reached a fever pitch.

However, White helped lead the Cardinals on an 8-0 run in the closing minute of regulation, including drilling a wide-open three-pointer to tie the game with less than 30 seconds to go, which forced overtime where Louisville was able to outscore the Aggies and take home a 90-84 win.

The Cardinals are now 3-3 on the season, with a home loss to Chattanooga and a pair of neutral site losses to No. 19 Texas (by just one point) and Indiana in the Empire Classic.

Louisville fans no doubt hoped the strong performances over Feast Week, even though they were both losses, would carry over to this buy-in game against the Aggies – but instead the Cardinals shot only 44.6% from the field and 20% (4-20) from beyond the arc, only managing to find any offense at the free throw line – where they ended up a whopping 49(!) times and converted 36.

New Mexico State played the final 20 seconds of overtime with only four players after six different Aggies fouled out of the contest, and their own inability to convert from deep (27.8%) or the charity stripe (52.9%) ultimately prevented them from picking up a very nice road win in Jason Hooten’s first season at the helm for the rebuilding Aggies – who have an entirely new team after last year’s season was suspended due to serious hazing allegations.

White’s 22 points were second on the team behind a monster performance from Skyy Clark, who had 29 total points on 6-8 shooting thanks to a 15-16 performance at the stripe.

Louisville will host Bellarmine (2-4) on Wednesday, ranked No. 229 at KenPom, before going on the road to take on Virginia Tech on December 3 in the first conference game of the year for Payne’s squad.

Louisville gets commitment from top New York PG Ty-Laur Johnson

Former Memphis commit and top-ranked New York point guard Ty-Laur Johnson announces commitment to Louisville.

They make point guards just a little bit different in New York City. Louisville is getting the best of them, at least in the 2023 class.

This morning on Instagram, Our Savior Lutheran (NY) four-star point guard Ty-Laur Johnson announced his commitment to Louisville. Johnson had previously been committed to Penny Hardaway’s Memphis program.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsjSS-qOL7c/?hl=en

Jamie Shaw’s scouting report on Johnson (6-foot-0, 160 pounds) from On3 mentions the flair and alpha-mentality you would expect from a Bronx point as well as his ability to finish at the rim.

“Johnson is a true point guard who plays with a sense of flair… He is a quick-on-quick guard with a tight handle, able to get to his spots in the half-court. Johnson is an alpha, confident player with the ball in his hands… He has no problem getting anywhere he wants on the court, and he has an array of finishes in the paint. He is strong off of two feet, and he can finish from a number of angles around the basket.”

Johnson is coming off a sensational season in the Overtime Elite league. He averaged 18.4 points, 5.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Here are highlights from one of his best games.

Johnson also had offers from Creighton, DePaul, Mississippi State, NC State, St. John’s and VCU. Going by the 247Sports composite rankings, he is the top prospect overall in the state of New York, No. 12 among point guards and No. 77 nationally.

That makes six members of Louisville’s 2023 class (not including their three transfers). The highest-ranked is Combine Academy (NC) five-star small forward Trentyn Flowers. Together, this group ranks No. 5 nationally.

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Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith enters portal, is clear on where she wants to go

Van Lith has reportedly marked herself as a ‘do not contact’ transfer. In other words, she knows where she wants to play.

The big news in women’s basketball just keeps coming at a rapid-fire pace. Within the past 24 hours, we have seen Stanford center Lauren Betts, a former No. 1 recruit, enter the transfer portal. Now we have news that will similarly change the balance of power in the sport.

Hailey Van Lith, the fearless anchor of Louisville’s defense under head coach Jeff Walz, helped the Cardinals reach the Elite Eight this past season. Van Lith has decided to enter the transfer portal, which not only hurts Louisville but will give one team an elite defensive guard who will dramatically improve a roster.

Van Lith seems to have her future school in mind; she just hasn’t announced that destination just yet (as of Saturday morning). How can we know this? One detail of her transfer portal status has emerged. This will not be an open competition among numerous schools. Van Lith will go to the program she has already picked out:

The team which gets Van Lith — similar to the team which gets Lauren Betts — takes a big step forward in contending for the Final Four and national championship next season. That is not an embellishment, at least if one presumes that Van Lith will go to a major national contender and not a lower-tier school.

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Watch: 5-star SF Trentyn Flowers commits to Louisville in style

Watch five-star small forward Trentyn Flowers announce his commitment to Louisville with a pretty epic video.

These college commitment videos are starting to look like movies.

Watch Combine Academy (N.C.) five-star small forward Trentyn Flowers announce his commitment to Louisville with a pretty epic video.

Flowers (6-foot-8, 210 pounds) had previously announced his top five schools were Alabama, Arkansas, Creighton, Louisville and North Carolina.

According to the composite rankings, Flowers is No. 7 at his position and No. 20 overall in the recruiting class of 2024.

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Louisville scored a late bucket for a backdoor cover in its 23-point loss to Kentucky on Saturday

Louisville (+23.5) never a doubt.

Shoutout to those of you who tuned in or paid attention to Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Louisville.

As expected, it wasn’t a very competitive or interesting game to watch, so you likely watched because you’re either a true college hoops fan or you had some money on the game.

Hopefully, that money was on Louisville to cover the huge spread (+23.5) vs. John Calipari’s Wildcats in this big rivalry game between the two. If you did make that bet, you can thank Louisville guard Roosevelt Wheeler for saving you.

Kentucky had built up a lead as large as 27 points, although Lousiville shaved four points off the lead late in the game. UK’s Sahvir Wheeler connected on a two-pointer to bring the lead to 25 points (and a potential Kentucky cover) with 39 seconds left in the game. At this point, the Cardinals likely had one final possession left to get a bucket.

Roosevelt Wheeler missed a jumper but rebounded and scored on his second try. Kentucky dribbled out the remaining 17 seconds and that was that.

As has been the case throughout most of the season, the Cardinals were outmatched from the start and outplayed in a game they never had a chance to win. Nevertheless, they get the cover, and somewhere someone is a bit richer because of it.

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Kentucky will host Louisville in a men’s basketball rivalry game that doesn’t pack the same punch as in years past

It’s not too often that a Louisville-Kentucky game is hardly anticipated.

Kentucky vs. Lousiville is one of those intense college basketball rivalries you never want to miss. There are always several of the nation’s best players occupying spots on both teams, future NBA players seemingly everywhere you look and most importantly, at least one legitimate title contender.

But that’s looking in the past. In the here and now, neither team is impressive.

Kentucky began the season as the No. 4 team in the nation, but has earned an 8-4 record through the first part of this season, which includes losses to unranked teams and zero signature wins to date. With a loss to Missouri earlier in the week, the Wildcats will likely find themselves out of the AP Top 25 when next week’s poll goes live.

Louisville, on the other hand, has been disappointing all season long. The Cardinals didn’t win their first game of the season until the middle of this month vs. Western Kentucky, which ended Louisville’s nine-game losing streak to begin the season. The Cards have only won one more game since then and sit at 2-11 ahead of their Saturday date with UK.

Combined, neither school is having a good season, which waters down this rivalry game significantly. While Kentucky fans are unhappy with the way the season has gone, at least they’re 20+ point favorites in the matchup.

To be fair, records don’t necessarily matter in rivalry games that feature two teams who don’t care for one another — the game should be intense and both fanbases will be into it. However, the outcome of this matchup won’t change the outlook on either team going forward.

Nevertheless, the two rivals will take the floor at Rupp Arena on Saturday morning for a game that Kentucky is heavily favored to win. Will Kenny Payne’s Cardinals be able to pull off the upset of John Calipari’s Wildcats?

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Louisville suffered a third-straight inexplicable loss by one point on an overturned buzzer beater

Louisville has some serious soul-searching to do.

Something has gone horribly wrong with the Louisville basketball team.

For the third-straight home game, the Cardinals have lost by one point to a team they really should’ve beaten.

After losing to Bellarmine and Wright State by a point, the team lost yet again at home in another “buy” game to Appalachian State, 61-60. The Cardinals had a chance to actually be on the other side a close contest, but the team’s last-second bucket to grab a final lead didn’t get off until after the final buzzer.

The KFC Yum! Center is down bad, and this third-straight loss doesn’t inspire much hope in Louisville returning to prominence this year.

The celebrating and smiles from Louisville surely turning to shocks and frowns is just too much to bear (unless you’re a cackling Kentucky fan).

The Cardinals entered the game -250 on the moneyline, but the public hammered App State at +6.5. Bettors seemed to have a better understanding of how this game might go than the Cardinals, who earned quite a bad beat on the evening.

There are no easy answers for how Louisville gets better from here, but they’re going to have to rethink the whole “buy game” strategy after these three absolute nosedives.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

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