Bellarmine spoils Kenny Payne, Louisville basketball's season opener: Takeaways

Kenny Payne has preached all preseason that it’s not about the record for his Louisville men’s basketball team this season.

As the Cardinals’ first-year coach puts it, U of L in this rebuilding year will “win or learn.”

On Wednesday, Bellarmine crossed town to the KFC Yum! Center and delivered the first lesson. The Knights — in their third season as a Division I program — shocked the Cards 67-66 to spoil Payne’s debut as coach.

Bellarmine led by as many as 14 points in the first half and by 12 with 4:41 to play before a late Louisville rally gave the Cards a chance for some magic. U of L scored the game’s final 11 points, holding the Knights without a point in that final 4:41.

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But El Ellis missed the front end of a one-and-one with 43 seconds to go and the Cards trailing by a point. And though Bellarmine also missed a front end on its ensuing possession — then rebounded the miss before Brandon Huntley-Hatfield blocked Garrett Tipton’s layup try — the Cards couldn’t capitalize.

Kamari Lands missed a pull-up jumper at the other end, and Roosevelt Wheeler’s putback was offline. The Cards got another shot after Bellarmine’s Juston Betz flung the ball to the other end of the court before time expired, but Ellis’ 3-point heave from near half court missed and was after the final horn.

Jae’Lyn Withers had 17 points to lead Louisville. Mike James added 16 and Ellis 14. Huntley-Hatfield had nine points and 10 rebounds.

"I'm asking them to change, to do things that are uncomfortable for them right now," Payne said of his team. "And that's why I say we win or we learn. Today is a hard lesson to learn."

Key takeaways from the Cards' season opener:

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Key player

Tipton had a game-high 21 points for Bellarmine, making 9 of 16 shots. He gave the Knights a steady scorer and scored a critical 12 points in a second half in which Louisville outscored Bellarmine 36-26.

It was Tipton’s layup with 4:41 to play that gave Bellarmine a 12-point need it would need almost all of. The bucket caped an 8-0 Knights run in which Tipton scored every point.

Bellarmine needs bucket-getters. The two Knights who averaged double-digit points last season — senior Dylan Penn and grad student CJ Fleming — are gone. So is forward Ethan Claycomb, Bellarmine's third-leading scorer last season, also a grad student.

But Knights coach Scott Davenport noted that Tipton had big moments down the stretch last season. Those included double-digit scoring games against Lipscomb and Eastern Kentucky in the span of three days in March.

Still, he'd never done anything quite like Wednesday night, when he poured in a career high.

“I think a lot of that was Withers’ foul trouble,” Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport said. “But that's how Garrett's practiced. That's how he's practiced.”

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Key stretch

A pair of Lands free throws with 6:41 to play pulled Louisville to within 50-44, and the Cards seemed to have real momentum.

But Bellarmine had an answer.

Tipton scored the game’s next eight points, and it seemed like that might put the game out of reach.

Louisville fought back to score 11 in a row, holding Bellarmine to 0-for-4 shooting and forcing three turnovers in that stretch.

"We knew we had to make a run at all costs," James said. "We just couldn't let them get an easy look, so we just became more desperate. That's what KP was telling us. Like, we have to pitch a shutout. We have to become more desperate, play like our lives depended on it."

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Key stat

Louisville was 7 for 11 on layups and 2 for 2 on dunks, but the Cards took more than half of their shots — 28 of their 52 attempts — from the 3-point line.

The Cardinals struggled not just to score inside in the first half but to get the ball in the paint. The Cards took 16 3-point shots in the first half, making seven, but went 3 for 10 inside the arc. Louisville center Sydney Curry played 16 scoreless minutes and didn't attempt a shot.

"We got to hold our post position," Huntley-Hatfield said. "Because they're fighting. They're not just laying on our backs and stuff. And then once (we) do throw it in they're sending another guy (to double-team) so we just have to hold our position and play stronger."

Many of the 3-point shots were open ones. Bellarmine walled off Louisville drives and gave the Cards opportunities to pitch out for open 3-pointers. And U of L made its share of them, hitting 11 of 28 from long range.

But the lack of offensive variety took away Louisville’s size advantage for long stretches.

"That's not who we are," Payne said. "That's not the way we practice. That's not the way we play. Since the day that I got in here, I've been talking about multiple lane touches."

Louisville’s reliance on long jumpers not only took out opportunities for post-up buckets, but missed jumpers can mean long rebounds, which gave the Knights chances to run down loose balls rather than battle the bigger Cards on the boards. U of L out rebounded Bellarmine 32-26.

Key quote

"They deserved to win. Well-coached team. Outcoached us, players outplayed us. They were the aggressor, they put us on our heels, they get a 10-point lead a team like that, that's gonna make 12, 15 passes, you better really understand how hard you got to defend. Or you lose. One point."

—Louisville coach Kenny Payne

Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brett Dawson at mdawson@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @BDawsonWrites.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball vs. Bellarmine: Kenny Payne era begins with loss