The Louisville Cardinals are now 3-0 after an 86-64 win over Prairie View A&M on Sunday night at the KFC Yum! Center. Prairie View is now 1-2 after the loss.
Jae’lyn Withers led the Cards with 20 points and 9 rebounds on 8 of 10 from the field. David Johnson scored 19 points with 3 rebounds and 6 assists. Carlik Jones added 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists. Dre Davis had 12 points and 6 rebounds as well.
For Prairie View, Jeremiah Gambrell led the way with 20 points. Faite Williams added 6 points and 11 rebounds. Four more Panthers scored at least 8 points.
Prairie View kept it close for the majority of the first half before Louisville made it 41-31 at the break. The Cards controlled things from there and led by as many as 25 points in the second period on their way to a third consecutive win.
It can be hard to take much from these early season games when Louisville is heavily favored, but this past week has been fairly enlightening. The Cards’ biggest positional question mark has seemingly been answered. Jae’lyn Withers looks like he can be a starter on this team even when they will be at full strength. JJ Traynor and Aidan Igiehon both look like they will be able to contribute off the bench. The Malik Williams injury might not be as devastating as we originally thought, and it makes Louisville that much more dangerous when he returns down the road.
Dre Davis continues to impress too and should only get more confident as his freshman season goes on. So far, David Johnson and Carlik Jones have both looked as good as we expected them to be. There were very real reasons for concern in the preseason with injuries on top of inexperience, but Louisville looks like it can be much better than the consensus predicted.
Up Next:
Western Kentucky comes to town for an in-state matchup with Louisville on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Pressers will be added when available!
Chris Mack
Carlik Jones
Jae’lyn Withers
