USA TODAY
Kenny Payne’s tenure at Louisville began in painful fashion Wednesday night as the Cardinals lost a 67-66 thriller to crosstown foe Bellarmine. Louisville clawed back from a 67-55 deficit over the final five minutes to score the game’s final 11 points but came empty on its final three possessions as the Knights escaped with a banner victory.
Coached by former longtime Louisville assistant coach Scotty Davenport, Bellarmine is starting just its third season at the Division I level and plays its home games inside Freedom Hall, which is Louisville’s former home arena. With the program ineligible for the NCAA Tournament until 2025 because of its transition from Division II, Wednesday’s game marked a rare showcase opportunity.
Though Bellarmine played against prestigious foes such as Duke, UCLA and Gonzaga over the past two seasons, Wednesday’s game was Knights’ first against the blue-blood program just 3.5 miles across town since their change in division. Bellarmine never looked intimidated as it erased an early 13-5 deficit with a 19-2 run.
Garrett Tipton led Bellarmine with 21 points and Bash Wieland added 13 on 11 of 12 free-throw shooting. Jae’Lyn Withers paced Louisville with 17 points, Mike James added 16 and El Ellis finished with 14. The loss is further evidence that the Cardinals could be in for a long first season under Payne after they also lost their exhibition opener against Division II Lenoir-Rhyne 57-47 on Oct. 30.
A 55-year-old former Louisville star and longtime Kentucky assistant under John Calipari, Payne inherited a team that finished just 13-19 in a 2021-22 season marked by the January firing of coach Chris Mack. Louisville has just one NCAA Tournament victory since 2015 as it has struggled under the weight of a recently concluded NCAA violations probe that yielded no significant sanctions.
