Chris Mack’s Louisville Cardinals took their first loss of the season after battling foul trouble and a lack of post play for just a little too long.
Louisville started off the game strong, and counteracted Tennessee’s dominant post play with some great outside shooting. The Cards fought basket-for-basket against the Vols throughout the first half, taking a 33-31 lead with just over five minutes left after an 11-0 run.
But Tennessee strung together a series of runs of their own, to take a five point advantage into the half.
The Cards were forced to play Akoy Agau for much of the end of the first half and to begin the second half after centers Stephen Enoch and Malik Williams both committed 2 fouls before the under 12 time out, and Enoch picked up his first just before halftime.