Louisville gets blown out on the road against Virginia

It’s a new year for a Louisville team that could use some change, but unfortunately the results are still the same for Kenny Payne and his team. At this point, it’s going to take a near miracle for this to turn it around, but as of right now, they simply aren’t getting it done.

Virginia was coming off a 22 point loss to Notre Dame just a few days ago and they still had no problem handling Louisville at home by 24 points. The Cardinals had a solid effort to begin the game like always, but their mistakes start to pile up when they find themselves behind, making it difficult for them to mount some sort of comeback. 12 games into their second season here, this coaching staff still hasn’t found a sustainable way to get these players to respond game in and game out.

Louisville’s Athletic Director Josh Heird issued a statement on the future of Kenny Payne shortly after their embarrassing performance against their rival, Kentucky, stating that Payne would remain the head coach heading into the new year. You’ve got to think that Heird will have no choice and make a change sooner rather than later, however Payne’s buyout drops down to six million dollars in April instead of eight million in January. This program is far too historic to have these type of results in back-to-back seasons and there aren’t many realistic scenarios where this coaching staff can turn this thing around.

Louisville put up their lowest point total of the season yesterday with only 53, while shooting 40% from the field and 24% from behind the three-point line. The Cavaliers are known for their suffocating defense year after year and the Cardinals always struggle to score against that scheme. This game used to be a guaranteed battle for 40 minutes straight but Virginia easily handled Louisville and they ran away with it in the second half.

The Cardinals have started the new year without finding their identity, as they continue to struggle being good in one area. The offense is badly missing a three point shooting element and that’s one of the main reasons why they struggle to score, because there’s only one aspect of scoring that a team has to stop. Once Louisville can’t score in the paint, they can’t rely on outside shooting to make up for it, because it’s nearly nonexistent. They shot 6/25 from behind the three-point line yesterday and only 28% on the season. It’s hard to win road games in the ACC without making shots and Kenny Payne is 0-20 in his career on the road in ACC games.

The defense still hasn’t shown any signs of improvement throughout these 12 games and even with a change to zone, they were unable to guard Virginia on the perimeter. As the game went by, the buckets given up by Louisville looked easier and easier for the Cavaliers and that’s not a good recipe for a team that’s struggling to find some offense. On a positive note, Curtis Williams looked like an effective scorer off the bench and he continues to show his potential as a scoring threat with his confidence growing after each performance. Williams remains one of the best flat-out jump shooters on Payne’s team, so they need to find ways to get him open looks at the rim. Williams finished with 14 points off the bench for the Cardinals and he added 4 three-point field goals.

Other than that, it’s hard to find the positive side of this mess that is Louisville’s basketball program and it’s likely going to remain constant until major changes are made.

Louisville looks to rebound from a disappointing performance this Saturday against Pitt at the KFC Yum! Center at Noon (ET).