Louisville vs Georgia Tech: Pat Kelsey talks loss to Yellow Jackets
After a disappointing loss to Georgia Tech, Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey gives his thoughts on the Cardinals’ performance Saturday.
Louisville basketball tumbled out of the top-25 polls after Pat Kelsey’s team squandered an 11-point halftime lead last weekend at Georgia Tech.
The Cardinals (16-6, 9-2 ACC), who entered the game ranked 21st in last week’s AP Top 25 and 22nd in the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, found themselves on the outside looking in when the latest editions were released Monday afternoon. This after they arrived in Atlanta on the cusp of the program’s longest winning streak, 11 in a row, since the 2014-15 season.
U of L came in at 28th in the new AP Top 25 with 86 votes and 28th in the new Coaches Poll with 50 votes.
“I know in my heart of hearts with everything I got that guys weren’t reading headlines, taking the pats on the back and all that stuff; because our approach the last couple of days of practice was phenomenal,” Kelsey said after the loss, which was the Cards’ first since 2016 when leading by double digits at the intermission. “I am heightened in my sensitivity to any slippage at all whatsoever, and our guys were great in preparation. I loved the process coming into the game. They were better than us tonight, though.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with us having a target on our back and we didn’t handle it the right way and those types of things,” he added. “We know, because of the success we’ve had, that, obviously, our games are circled on the schedule more than they were a month ago or even at the beginning of the season. At the end of the day, winning college basketball games on the road is hard.”
Here’s a look at what’s next for Louisville and its NCAA Tournament résumé:
The best cure for the kind of loss Louisville suffered last weekend? Back-to-back games against teams sitting at the bottom of the ACC standings: a 7 p.m. tipoff Wednesday at Boston College, then a 2 p.m. tipoff Saturday against Miami at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Eagles and Hurricanes both have momentum, however, after coming up with victories over the weekend, against Florida State and Notre Dame, respectively.
“From here on out, we know we’re going to have that target on our backs,” J’Vonne Hadley told The Courier Journal in Atlanta. “Everybody wants to beat Louisville now, but we have to credit ourselves; that’s what Louisville’s about. That’s what we wanted to do; we wanted to bring Louisville back. We have to know what comes with that.”
Louisville on Monday ranked 29th in the NET — down three spots from where it entered last weekend’s Quad 2 loss at Georgia Tech.
As the rankings stood, the Cards were 4-5 in Quad 1 games; 6-1 in Quad 2 games; 2-0 in Quad 3 games and 4-0 in Quad 4 games.
U of L also came in at 24th in Wins Above Bubble (2.08), which reflects how much better a team is than those teetering between making and missing the NCAA Tournament cut.
Louisville was the third-best No. 5 seed (5.35) on The Bracket Project’s Bracket Matrix as of Monday, appearing on all 91 submissions.
Here’s a look at where a few had them playing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament:
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
