By Derek DeBurger and Charles Hall

The Louisville Cardinals had a tough time against the No. 12 Tennessee Volunteers Saturday as they lost by 22. Both teams got off to a slow start as it looked like it could be a defensive matchup. However, Tennessee overcame the struggles while Louisville lagged behind for the first loss of the Pat Kelsey-era.

Midday blues

The game started with Tennessee going on a 10-0 run over the course of the first five minutes of the game.

The Cards finally got in the board with a three-pointer from Reyne Smith, but the Vols kept up their physical game plan and continued to cause fits for Louisville.

A number of other small runs in the first half saw Tennessee slowly push their lead bigger and bigger. The Vols got up by as much as 22 points in the first.

Tennessee was able to consistently run Louisville off the line and then clog up the driving lanes. The one time in the game Louisville was able to attack the paint with some consistency was right at the end of the first half where the Cards drove and drew fouls. The Cards ended the half on a 10-2 run, giving them some life during the break.

Louisville still trailed 26-40 at the half.

Much like the first, both teams came out of the second half by shutting the other down on offense. Eventually the points started to trickle, and out of a timeout Smith got a catch-and-shoot three to cut the lead to nine points.

However, Tennessee would then hold Louisville to a three-minute drought while they pushed the lead back up to 17.

From that moment on, the Cards never truly felt like they could make a comeback. Tennessee was just too physical and shots weren’t falling for Louisville.

The Cards lost 55-77.

Reevaluating already

The Cardinals had a hard time getting the ball through the net in this game shooting just 26.7% percent from the field and 25.6% from beyond the arc.

The Vols defense played a tight game and didn’t allow shooters to get open and only allowed 11 assists and forced 15 turnovers leading to 20 points for the Vols offense.

Kasean Pryor was only 1-of-7 from the field and Koren Johnson was 1-of-6. Both of those players needed to perform well for the Cards to have a chance.

The Cardinals also had a difficult time on the glass being out-rebounded 40-26 by the Volunteers.

The good news of the day is that when the Cardinals were hot, they were hot. Louisville had some good runs throughout the contest but couldn’t keep the momentum going to pull out a win.

Smith kept his hands hot from last week, scoring 18 points with five rebounds and an assist.

While the final score might suggest otherwise, the Cardinals picked up 12 steals, four blocks and forced 20 turnovers against a fast paced spread out Volunteer offense, including 11 turnovers on Zakai Zeigler.

Pat Kelsey was known for his offense coming into Louisville, but it might be time to start thinking differently about this team. The strength is clearly in the defense, and that’s how the Cards are going to need to win this year.

The Cardinals will have to shore up some of the mistakes as the schedule ahead does not get any easier. But with a fired up crowd behind them and a new coach who has seen success the Cardinals are in good hands. As long as they can take better shots and get better on interior defense, the Cardinals could be a force to be reckoned with this season.

The Cardinals drop to 1-1 on the season with a tough schedule ahead.

Photo by Vinny Porco