Louisville basketball survived a near-upset to start March Madness Thursday. A feisty South Florida team nearly toppled the Cardinals before UL rolled to the 83-79 win. Even head coach Pat Kelsey let out a blunt take afterwards.
He mostly focused on the deficit USF nearly overcame postgame, the one that saw UL nearly lose a 23-point lead.
“It was the longest 10 minutes of my life, no question about it,” Kelsey said.
The Bulls indeed kept chipping away even despite being down by a large margin. Isaac McNeely first got UL to lead 62-39 by banking a 25-foot three-pointer.
USF's Joseph Pinion ignited the late comeback charge, though, by nailing his 27-footer. USF ended up outscoring the Cards 52-46 in the second half and again, sliced the lead to four.
South Florida guard calls out Louisville after loss
Bulls guard Wes Enis dropped a bold take after taking the first round exit. He believes the better team wore green, not red.
“Yeah, I don't think it's an upset,” Enis explained to reporters. “I think we're the better team. I don't really care what 11-6 says, I think we're the better team, so I wouldn't really call it an upset.”
Enis settled for only four points in 32 minutes. Pinion handled the scoring bulk by hitting 27. Izaiyah Nelson delivered 22 points in a span of 35 minutes and came within one rebound of a double-double. Reserve Gavin Hightower added 12 points off the bench.
Louisville saw McNeely deliver 23 points to lead the way. Ryan Conwell added 18 while J'Vonne Hadley and Sananda Fru chipped in 10 points apiece.
Kelsey now has his first-ever NCAA Tournament win as Cardinals head coach.
