When Louisville basketball’s lead had swollen to 50 points, maybe half the crowd remained at its seats, if not in them. Spectators bearing the psychic scars of the Kenny Payne era stood and cheered the garbage-time exertions by the last bodies on Pat Kelsey’s bench as if something significant still hung in the balance.
This was college basketball as catharsis, a proud and storied program rewarding the faith of its fans with the kind of dominance last on display at the KFC Yum Center nearly six years ago. Louisville’s 93-45 mauling of Morehead State Monday night was the Cardinals’ most lopsided victory since the first week of Chris Mack’s first regular season, and the reaction of those in attendance bespoke a pent-up demand for the dominance and entertainment value of decades past. In his first regular season game as U of L’s head coach, Kelsey had delivered a product sure to buttress the belief of the guardedly optimistic and pique the curiosity of some of the school’s lapsed loyalists.
It was just one game against an overmatched opponent. A much sterner test will come Saturday against 12th-ranked Tennessee. Yet after years of incessant scandal followed by the steep decline of Payne’s tenure, here was relief and release for Louisville fans. Here was hope.
“I’ve coached for a long time and lots of home games, and I’ve never had a home game like that,” Kelsey said. “It is something I will remember the rest of my life.”
The new Cardinals coach is prone to hyperbole, but it is no exaggeration to say his impact has been immediate and that it could be immense. He has assembled an entirely new team in a single off-season and given it an identity that echoes some of Rick Pitino’s more grueling teams. Morehead’s best scoring run Monday night was just three points – think about that; at no point did the Eagles score two field goals uninterrupted by a U of L score — and the visitors suffered as many steals (12) as they sank shots from the field. Morehead made only one fast-break basket, only two points off of turnovers and suffered six blocked shots.
“A lot of teams will come out and show pressure in flashes,” Morehead coach Jonathan Mattox said of Louisville. “They showed it over the course of 40 minutes. They are relentless in their effort defensively.”
They also showed flashes of aerial acrobatics reminiscent of Darrell Griffith and associates. The scoring in both halves opened with guard Chucky Hepburn, who totaled 313 assists in three seasons at Wisconsin, finding 6-foot-11 forward James Scott for tone-setting alley-oop dunks. Another potent frontcourt presence, Kasean Pryor, came off the bench to lead both teams in points (18), rebounds (12) and fouls drawn (7).
Yes, it was a mismatch. Yes, Mattox is also in his first year on the job and the team he fielded Monday night included none of Morehead’s top five scorers from last season. Still, in light of everything Louisville fans have endured in the nine years since Katina Powell’s tawdry memoir was published, here was reason to rejoice.
Kelsey has been careful to avoid rehashing issues all too familiar and painful to his constituents, clinging to his clean slate instead of invoking U of L’s dirty laundry that might prove handy should times get hard. He conveys confidence that he will be able to build political capital without resorting to blaming his predecessors.
“Nobody in our organization focuses on anything but right now and what we’re doing moving forward,” he said. “. . .Our sole focus is now, I know the stuff that will be written about how it was and how it is now. I mean, it’s the new era of Louisville basketball and that’s all we’re focusing on. I just know the crowd was elite tonight, the energy was elite tonight. The standing ovation for being up forty-something at the end of the game was awesome. It’s because we have the best fan base in the country. You can’t convince me otherwise.
“I think as the fans watch our team, I think it’s a team that is endearing to the minds and hearts of the people of Louisville. This is a town that values toughness, that values family, togetherness, community. We think we play a brand of basketball that this city is going to be very, very proud of. It’s not going to be perfect all the time. The season’s a lifetime. There’s going to be the ups, there’s going to be downs, but we’re excited to be on this journey. We’re excited to have our fan base in the city of Louisville on this journey with us. It’s going to be fun.”
On this night, at least, it was something worth savoring.
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This article appears in Oct 23 – Nov 5, 2024.
