Louisville beats Mercyhurst using a paint-heavy offensive approach
Louisville rolled past Mercyhurst with a physical, paint-heavier approach in the Yum! Center.
Inside the New Low for Perimeter Shooting
The Cardinals made only two shots from beyond the arc against the Lakers. That total marks the fewest three-point attempts of the Pat Kelsey era, spanning both exhibition and regular-season play. The previous low occurred last season when Louisville put up 18 attempts against Baylor. The drought from deep lasted until the 11:51 mark of the second half, when freshman guard Isaac Ellis finally connected on the team’s first triple. Louisville instead imposed its will inside, racking up 56 points in the paint—the highest interior scoring mark of the Kelsey era. The offense went 16-for-24 on layups and hit four of five dunks.
Flory Bidunga Sets the Physical Tone
Flory Bidunga struggled with early foul trouble and four turnovers in the first half, looking hesitant before head coach Pat Kelsey issued a direct halftime challenge. Bidunga responded immediately after the break, scoring 10 of his 12 second-half points within the first five minutes. He finished his home debut with 19 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes, anchoring a frontcourt-focused game plan that relied on big men touches to wear down the opposition. Seth Trimble and Isaac Ellis managed the point guard duties while directing the offense away from the perimeter.
“Just to stop being soft,” Seth Trimble said when asked about Kelsey’s halftime message. “Play with purpose, play with a passion. We were kinda out there going through the motions on the offensive end…we made the point to get the ball inside…then we started playing with purpose and intention.”
Defensive Buy-In and Rebounding Dominance
Louisville carried a 51-39 rebounding advantage against Mercyhurst, with seven different players pulling down at least four boards. Guards Trimble and Adrian Wooley contributed heavily on the glass with seven and five rebounds respectively. The defensive effort held the Lakers to a 0.57 points per possession average, a 29 percent effective field goal percentage, and a 24 percent offensive rebounding rate. Kelsey credited associate head coach John Andrzejek for installing a new pick-and-roll defensive system, while assistant Sean Dixon oversaw the transition defense.
“When you’re ‘blah’ on offense, sometimes that affects your defense,” Pat Kelsey said. “And they didn’t let that happen. As ticked off that I was with not finishing around the rim or turning the ball over at halftime. Now looking at stats, we’re guarding the crap out of them…like I said we’re more talented, we’re bigger, stronger, more athletic, but guarding all that stuff and continuing to concentrate, I was really proud of their defensive effort.”
“There was just a huge emphasis over the last couple of days – really since June 5 – on our defense and on our rebounding,” Kelsey added, outlining the preparation that began months prior to establish the team’s defensive identity.