Louisville Men’s Basketball Falls to Oklahoma in Battle 4 Atlantis Championship Game

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NASSAU, The Bahamas – Despite an impressive first two days in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Louisville men’s basketball program is not coming back home with some new hardware.

Matched up with Oklahoma in the event’s championship game, Louisville could not build on their momentum from their wins over Indiana and West Virginia, falling 69-64 on Friday from Imperial Arena.

Louisville had two chances to tie the game in the final 30 seconds following a missed free throw by Oklahoma on the front end of a one-and-one. Noah Waterman missed an open three from the left corner with 27 seconds left, then on the next possession with 8.1 seconds left, Chucky Hepburn had his inbounds pass tipped, with Oklahoma gaining possession on a heldball.

The Cardinals (5-2, 0-0 ACC) have now lost in the Battle 4 Atlantis’ championship in each of their three appearances in the event, losing to Duke in 2012 and Baylor in 2016. The Sooners (7-0, 0-0 SEC), picked 13th in the SEC Preseason Poll, continue on their undefeated run to start the season

Adding injury to insult, Louisville saw one of their top players have to exit the game. Kasean Pryor suffered what appeared to be a left leg injury early in the second half, and had to be taken to the locker room before eventually returning to the bench in a wheelchair.

Louisville’s struggles to shoot three-pointers and free throws have emerged as an early area of concern, and that was on display against Oklahoma. The Cards shot just 7-of-32 from deep, were 9-of-16 at the charity stripe, and shot it 38.1 percent overall. Additionally, they had 14 turnovers to 12 assists, with OU scoring 15 points off turnovers.

Defensively, Louisville showed real grit, out-rebounding Oklahoma 44-21 (including 21-4 on the offensive glass), and winning the points in the paint battle 34-22. The only issue was that they were also susceptible to the Sooners’ outside game, allowing them to go 8-of-17 from deep.

Four Cardinals cracked double figures in scoring, led by 12 points from J’Vonne Hadley and Chucky Hepburn. Oklahoma’s Jalen Moore led all scorers with 24 points.

Louisville’s defensive intensity against Indiana and West Virginia to start the Battle 4 Atlantis was elevated, but this was an area where they struggled over the first half … Read More