Louisville’s Kasean Pryor poised for ‘phenomenal year’
Louisville’s Kasean Pryor poised for ‘phenomenal year,’ according to basketball coach Pat Kelsey. Pryor averaging 15 points and seven rebounds.
Before running his inaugural Louisville basketball team through the gauntlet in paradise, Pat Kelsey will do battle with some familiar faces.
The Cardinals (2-1) host Winthrop (4-2), where in 2012 Kelsey began his journey as a Division I head coach, tonight at the KFC Yum! Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., then U of L is off to the Bahamas for three games in as many days as part of the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.
Louisville is coming off a 100-68 win over Bellarmine on Tuesday, during which it posted season-high clips from the field (54.7%) and from 3-point range (34.3%) and had five double-digit scorers. But it also was down two players due to injuries; senior forward Aboubacar Traore, who is expected to miss multiple weeks with a broken left arm, and junior guard Koren Johnson, who was dealing with an undisclosed shoulder issue.
The Eagles last played Sunday, when they beat North Carolina Central, 77-75.
Winthrop is coached by a member of Kelsey’s very first staff, Mark Prosser — the son of his late mentor, Skip Prosser. Returning four starters from a 17-15 squad last go-around, they were picked to finish second in the Big South Conference’s 2024-25 preseason poll.
“It’ll be a war for 40 minutes on the court,” Mark Prosser told The Courier Journal earlier this month, “but it’ll be a lot of fun before and after to catch up.”
Follow along below with live updates from the Yum! Center:
The game between the Cards and the Eagles will not air on a traditional TV channel.
It’s on ACC Network Extra, which is available exclusively via livestream. Jody Demling (play-by-play) and Larry O’Bannon (analyst) will have the call.
If your cable or live TV streaming package includes ACC Network, you have access to ACC Network Extra. You can watch via ESPN.com/watch or the ESPN app after logging in with your cable or live TV streaming service credentials.
If you don’t have cable, you can get ACC Network — and therefore ACC Network Extra — through streaming services such as fuboTV (FREE TRIAL) and YouTube TV (FREE TRIAL). Just enter your provider credentials when logging into ESPN’s streaming platforms.
Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) will have the call on the Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9-FM and WGTK 970-AM in Louisville).
You can also listen online via GoCards.com.
Betting odds: Louisville is a 17 ½-point home favorite (-110) on BetMGM, which set the over/under at 154 ½ points (-110). The money line odds are U of L -2000, Winthrop +1000.
Score predictions: KenPom.com gives U of L a 90% chance of winning and projects an 83-69 final score in its favor. BartTorvik.com is also forecasting a Cards victory (90%), with a projected final score of 88-71.
Follow the instructions below to submit a question to our Louisville basketball mailbag:
Questions can also be submitted via email (bholton@gannett.com) and X, formerly Twitter, to @brooksHolton.
Click here to see the Eagles’ 2024-25 schedule.
Click here to see the Eagles’ 2024-25 roster.
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Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
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