The Louisville men’s basketball team dropped its second consecutive game on Saturday in an 82-72 road loss at Western Kentucky. Louisville falls to 7-4 on the season. WKU now sits at 8-4 overall. This is the Hilltoppers first win over Louisville since 2008.
Noah Locke led all Cards with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Mason Faulkner added 12 points and 3 assists. Matt Cross was also in double digits with 10 points.
For Western Kentucky, Camron Justice led all scorers with 25 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Jamarion Sharp had 14 points, 7 boards, and 4 blocks for the Hilltoppers. Five different players scored in double figures on Saturday for WKU.
Louisville found out before the game that it would be without its captain and star center Malik Williams on Saturday. Western Kentucky took full advantage, out-rebounding the Cards 37-28 and allowing just seven total free-throw attempts on the night. WKU led by as many as 15 points and did not trail once all game.
The most concerning thing about the performance on Saturday is how unsurprising it was. This has been brewing all season. There is nothing embarrassing about losing to WKU in a true road game. Rick Stansbury has consistently knocked off power conference opponents since arriving in Bowling Green. The fact that this game did not look close for the overwhelming majority of the 40 minutes is what should scare you. It is not the first (or second) time we have seen this kind of showing over the past six weeks.
With the non-conference season winding down, Louisville sits at 7-4 and plays a ranked team on the road next week to finish things off. At this point in time there does not seem to be an answer to any of the questions we had about Chris Mack heading into 2022. Obviously things can change, but time is running out for the current coaching staff to prove it belongs at this program.
Up Next:
Louisville travels to Lexington on Wednesday night for 2021’s Battle of the Bluegrass. The game tips at 6:00 p.m. and will air on ESPN.
