The Louisville men’s basketball team officially opened the season on Sunday with a 72-61 win over George Mason. Coach David Padgett secured his first victory as a head coach, but it was not without frustration and adversity.
George Mason gave the Cards everything that they could handle. The Patriots came out and tested Louisville straight from the jump. George Mason took a 3 point lead into halftime and actually had a lead for 22 minutes of game time, 9 more minutes than Louisville led. The Cards shooting only 28% from the field and 1 of 10 from 3 helped George Mason hold on to their lead. Louisville’s offense bounced back in the second half, with the Cards shooting 70%, including 7 of 10 from 3 in the second half.
Deng Adel led the Cardinals with 20 points, but the spotlight was stolen by a couple of freshmen. Darius Perry (17 pts) and Jordan Nwora (10 pts) sparked the Louisville offense by each shooting a perfect 3 for 3 from the floor. Perry’s 17 points were the most points in a debut for a Louisville freshman since Samardo Samuels had 18 in 2008.
The Cards return to the KFC Yum! Center this Friday at 7:00 PM to take on the University of Nebraska Omaha.
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