Louisville basketball is halfway through the toughest stretch of its 2025-26 nonconference schedule. What have we learned so far?
Pat Kelsey's No. 11 Cardinals (8-1) aren't immune to a clunker — see: an 89-80 loss at now-No. 17 Arkansas the coach described as "unacceptable." But, judging by their response in an 87-78 victory over now-unranked Indiana, it proved to be a valuable experience.
"I feel like every team always has to, eventually, get smacked in the mouth first," J'Vonne Hadley said after UofL led the Hoosiers for 39 minutes, 25 seconds and by as many as 19 points at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. "You can't do anything besides go out there and try to be the aggressor."
In the latest edition of The Courier Journal's Louisville basketball mailbag, we address your questions from this formative juncture for the Cards, who rekindle their longtime rivalry with Memphis on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center before traveling to No. 20 Tennessee on Dec. 16 for the final game of a home-and-home series.
We'll begin with a discussion of what happens to Kelsey's offense when facing opponents that like to operate at a slower pace — fitting, because the Tigers and the Volunteers rank outside the top 100 in both tempo and average possession length on KenPom.com. From there, we'll address Kasean Pryor's playing time and the recruiting trail.
Let's dive in.
In pretty much all of Louisville's games, it has dictated the tempo. How will the Cards do when a team slows them down and makes them play a grind-it-out, halfcourt game? — Kenny Hensley
To your point: Per CBBAnalytics.com, Louisville has completed 82.6% (551) of its 667 possessions through nine games within the first 20 seconds of the shot clock. It ranked in the 97th percentile across Division I with 41.7% (278) of its possessions ending within 10 seconds or less and averaged 1.30 points per (78th percentile) during those sprints.
How are the Cards doing deeper in possessions? They're averaging 1.33 points (99th percentile) on 41.6% shooting during those spanning 20-30 seconds and 0.70 points (17th percentile) on 12.2% shooting during those lasting 30 seconds or longer.
That comes out to 1.21 points per possession on 32.7% shooting across 116 instances when Kelsey's team is in a time crunch. For reference: CBB Analytics has UofL averaging 1.29 points per possession, and it's shooting 47.2% from the field through nine games — 1.193 and 44%, respectively, in its three games of the Quad 1 and Quad 2 variety.
Defensively, it's averaged 0.66 points allowed on 20.1% shooting during the 193 possessions to this point that have gone 20-plus seconds into the shot clock.
Kelsey likes to save sets for out-of-timeout and special situations. Otherwise, his team uses an open-ended approach that emphasizes paint touches and 3-point shooting gravity. Per Hoop-Explorer.com, the Cards' most frequent play types aside from transition opportunities are rim attacks (17 instances per 100 plays) and kick-outs (15.6).
"You have to recognize how they're playing your actions," Kelsey said during a Dec. 8 episode of his radio show. "The beauty is in the randomness; it's not just running around like a chicken (with) your head cut off.
"There is a method to the madness, and depending on the way people guard on-ball screens, your pick and roll, you have to make certain reads and react a certain way. And also: how they're guarding your off-ball screens. Not a pick and roll — but a wide pin or a pin-down or a flare. Depending on if they're switching, there are reads that you have to make."
I don't expect Louisville to stray far from Kelsey's system when opponents try to slow them down. That would go against one of his most-used pieces of advice to his players: "Be us." I think it's a matter of the team putting more of an emphasis on getting to the basket — it's converted 35 of its 71 (49.3%) 2-point attempts with 10 seconds or less on the shot clock — and trying to draw fouls.
Should Kasean Pryor be getting more minutes? When is he finally gonna shake off the injury rust? — Chucky Ballgame
To answer your first question in a word: Yes. Re: the second question, I think that's going to take a little more time, but Louisville needs it to happen sooner rather than later.
Pryor totaled only 10 minutes between the Cards' loss at Arkansas and their win over Indiana but didn't play passively. He collected four points on 2-for-5 shooting, two rebounds, two block and a steal between the two games.
"I thought he went in and disrupted defensively," Kelsey said when asked about the 6-foot-10 forward after the victory over the Hoosiers. "That's what he does.
"That role is not easy right now, and I understand that," the coach added. "... I told him before the game: 'I can't promise you what your minutes are going to be today.' He's dealing with it in a really good way. ... It's just process, process, process. Every dog is going to have its day; it all works out in the end."
The Razorbacks exposed a chink in UofL's armor: How will it defend long, athletic frontcourts? The answer should be pairing Pryor — or Khani Rooths (6-10) — with Sananda Fru (6-11), but he's logged 15-plus minutes on only one occasion so far: his first game back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a lopsided win over Jackson State. Against high-major opponents, his run has dipped to five minutes per contest.
I don't know when Kelsey plans to extend Pryor's leash, but it needs to be longer by Jan. 6, when No. 3 Duke visits the Yum! Center. Five more games of testing the water between now and then seems fair.
Since Denny Crum retired, Louisville has a problem with recruiting within the city. Why does no one want to stay home anymore? — Maurice Burns
It's twofold, I think: There are fewer players like Darrell Griffith, Wesley Cox, Felton Spencer and DeJuan Wheat around these parts; and many of those who have similar trajectories — see: Kaden Magwood and Tyran Stokes — have opted to face tougher competition outside the state.
The decision to take the prep school route doesn't rule out a homecoming. Just look at former Male High School standout Kaleb Glenn, who committed to Chris Mack and signed with Kenny Payne after transferring to La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. But, with the world more connected than ever these days, the larger stage opens doors to more programs.
Kelsey hasn't put a 502 native on scholarship yet, but that'll change in 2027 with Ferlandes Wright, who transferred from Fairdale to La Lumiere after a strong sophomore season that saw him average 18 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. Donning the red and black certainly means something to the forward, especially now that UofL is rolling again.
"I want to be somebody who's remembered in the city," Wright told The Courier Journal earlier this month.
It's worth noting that a top-20 prospect in the Class of 2028 from Louisville, St. Xavier guard Joshua Lindsay, was a visitor for the Cards' Nov. 26 win over NJIT. He has not yet reported receiving an offer from Kelsey & Co., but I think that'll change if he continues at this pace: 22.5 points per game on 66.7% shooting (63.6% from 3).
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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball offense under Pat Kelsey, Kasean Pryor stats