The Louisville men’s basketball team suffered another road loss on Wednesday night, falling to Boston College 75-65. The Cardinals, who are currently 2-18 overall and 0-9 in the ACC, were plagued by turnovers throughout the game, committing 19 which led to 18 points for the Eagles.
Despite leading Boston College for over 24 minutes, the Cardinals were unable to hold on to their lead, as the turnovers proved to be too costly. Head coach Kenny Payne acknowledged the issue, stating, “The elephant in the room is the turnovers. You can’t describe some of them. … It’s turnovers that are unnecessary, which leads to layups. You look at the stat sheet, you walk away saying we did everything it took to win the game. But we didn’t handle the elephant in the room, which is turnovers.”
Louisville had a strong first half, shooting 53.1% overall and 60% in the first half, and making 9 of 18 3-pointers. They also had an early 11-0 run that gave them a 12-point lead at one point. Senior guard El Ellis led the way with 15 points in the first half, going 6 of 7 from the field and 3-for-3 from deep. Redshirt freshman guard/forward Mike James also contributed 10 points in the first seven-plus minutes of the game.
However, the Eagles caught fire in the second half, making 7 of 11 long-range attempts and 13 of 15 free throws. They also had a critical 10-0 run that gave them a three-point lead, and another 8-0 burst that sealed the victory for them.
Redshirt junior forward Jae’Lyn Withers said, “I saw a lot more resiliency when that adversity did hit. We continued to fight, but attention to detail and rebounding hindered us.” Ellis led the Cardinals with 17 points and five assists, while Withers contributed 16 points and seven rebounds. James and senior forward Sydney Curry also found double digits with 15 and 10 points respectively.
The Cardinals will now look to bounce back on the road, as they head to Notre Dame for a 12 p.m. ET game on Saturday. The game will air on ESPN2.