LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville men’s basketball gutted out a gritty 77-74 win over the UTEP Miners on Wednesday night from the KFC Yum! Center.
“I thought it was a heck of a college basketball game,” said head coach Pat Kelsey. “I knew in watching tape and in preparation that this was going to be a very, very tough game, and it was hard fought. [I have] a ton of respect for [UTEP]. They're number one in the country in creating turnovers. They play hard, they play hard, they fly around. They contest every single stinking pass, and we talk so much about having to play clean. We had to play clean. We couldn’t allow what we call ‘turnovers for touchdowns’. We did that early on in the first four minutes of the game. I want to say there were five turnovers in that first four-minute segment, maybe five [minutes]. Then for the rest of the game we had eight [turnovers]. We had three [turnovers] in the second half... So, our guys just showed a lot of resolve, a lot of resiliency. [We] didn’t shoot the ball to our standard, but the process has been great.”
Both teams stayed within three points of one another to open up the game, tying three times and changing leads five times in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Louisville scored eight straight points, including five from Chucky Hepburn, to take a 25-18 lead with 7:18 on the clock, but the Cards wouldn’t score another field goal in the first half.
UTEP responded with a 10-1 run to regain the advantage. The Miners hit a 3-pointer as the clock ran down to take a 36-32 lead into the halftime break.
The Cardinals scored seven straight to tie it up at 43-all just four and a half minutes into the second half. The squads traded buckets and leads until Louisville used a 9-0 run to take a 63-55 edge with under eight minutes remaining.
UTEP continued to fight responding with an 8-2 run to close the gap back to just two points. Louisville was able to maintain a lead by drawing fouls and making free throws. The Miners got their deficit to just one point twice in the final minute of the game.
After one instance, Hepburn found James Scott double teamed down low for a massive dunk. After the second, Reyne Smith drew a foul and sunk both of his free throws to take the Louisville lead back up to three.
The Miners had a look at the end of the game to send it to overtime, but missed the shot, giving the Cardinals a 77-74 victory.
Louisville scored 16 second chance points on 16 offensive rebounds. UTEP is the country’s leader in turnovers forced per game, averaging 20.25 a night, and the Cardinals committed just 11. The Miners also lead the country in steals per game at an average of 12.1 and Louisville limited them to just seven.
Two Cards had double-doubles on the night: Scott (11 points, 11 boards) and J’Vonne Hadley (13 points, 12 boards). Overall, Louisville was led in scoring by Terrence Edwards Jr. off the bench for the second game in a row. He scored 22 points by shooting 6 of 13 from the field and 8 of 10 from the charity stripe.
UTEP has the best 3-point shooter in the country in Ahamad Bynum; he knocked down 4 of 5 beyond the arc on Wednesday night and scored 14 points. He was joined in double digits by Corey Camper Jr. (19) and Devon Barnes (16).
Louisville will turn the page to its rivalry game against No. 5 Kentucky on Saturday evening in Lexington. The Cards and Cats will face each other in the Battle of the Bluegrass at 5:15 p.m. on ESPN.
