LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville men’s basketball struggled on the backboards Tuesday and couldn’t slow down Lipscomb’s methodical offensive approach, falling 75-67 at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals (2-10) were outrebounded 40-26 and outscored 40-30 in the paint, including several layups by Lipscomb (8-5) on backdoor cuts.

That negated a season-low 10 turnovers for Louisville, as well as a strong 17-for-21 showing from the Cardinals at the free-throw line.

“I am going to say that they were tougher as was evidenced by 40-26 in rebounds,” UofL head coach Kenny Payne said. “I would say that they were more disciplined. We worked for two or three days on backcuts. We gave up at least 10-12 points on backcuts. They put us on our heels. We never imposed our will. We were never the aggressors. … Give them credit, they are a good team. I watched the way they played Michigan. I watched the way they played Notre Dame. I knew it would be hard for us to come out if we didn’t focus and be desperate defensively and be disciplined defensively. We just couldn’t mentally get it. We couldn’t mentally play with the energy that we needed to fight for a win.”

An early 10-0 run by Lipscomb gave the Bisons an 18-9 advantage at the 11:51 mark, but Louisville came charging back at the end of the half with a 9-2 burst to end the frame.

The final two baskets came on fast-break layups by senior guard El Ellis following Cardinal steals, the last of which trimmed UofL’s halftime deficit to one at 33-32.

Louisville never reclaimed the lead, however, while Lipscomb extended its lead to 68-56 with 6:22 to play.

The Cardinals came storming back, largely behind a flurry of free throws, and cut it to four at 71-67 with 3:19 left. But one of their rare turnovers squandered the opportunity.

“Something (Payne) always says is that we can’t afford to be casual,” redshirt junior forward Jae’Lyn Withers said. “We have to be locked in and focused at all times in order to win.”

Ellis led Louisville with 24 points and six assists, while senior forward Sydney Curry contributed 12 points and seven rebounds. Withers had nine points.

Junior forward JJ Traynor and freshman forward Kamari Lands each chipped in eight points.

The Cardinals, who committed just three turnovers in the first half, outscored the Bisons 18-9 on points off turnovers.

Derrin Boyd paced Lipscomb with a career-high 23 points and nine rebounds.

The Cardinals are quickly back in action for one more ACC matchup before the holidays with a trip to NC State at 7 p.m. ET Thursday in Raleigh, N.C. The game will air on the ACC Network.

“We really wanted this win really bad so we could feel a lot better going into those next two games,” Traynor said. “NC State is a really good team. We just have to keep working and keep fighting, and things will turn around.”