Brown: Louisville, as Kenny Payne fights for job, looked unprepared to defend Wake's 3s
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — By the time you finish reading this sentence, Louisville probably allowed another 3-pointer against Wake Forest.
Of course, that’s not true. It just felt like they happened that fast and frequently on Saturday as the Demon Deacons drained a season-high 18 3s and buried the Cardinals, 90-65, at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
This isn’t how a coach fighting for his job needs his team to play.
U of L coach Kenny Payne, through 50 games in two seasons, saw his record drop to 10-40 overall.
He has had the Cards competing hard despite losing five of the last six games entering Saturday. But Wake beat the fight out of Louisville. The Cards never led in the game and were never closer than 13 points after halftime as the Deacs cruised to a victory.
“We don't have the wiggle room that most teams have,” Payne said. “... The only way we can even compete is if we fight. To be in a game, we have to fight.”
Louisville looked woefully unprepared for a fight and even less equipped to defend Wake Forest’s 3-point shooters. That, despite the Deacons entering the game ranked first in the ACC — shooting 40% from behind the arc in conference games — and 20th nationally (38.2% in all games) from 3.
Payne said the game plan was to make Wake take “tough 2s.” But the Cards allowed 3s in nearly every conceivable way.
Players got caught with their hands down. They got caught rotating late after helping on a double team. They got caught going under screens. They got caught while tagging in the lane. They got caught in transition.
“After a certain point, it's like, ‘OK, they're having a good night,’ we got to take something away,” U of L guard Tre White said. “So after a certain point, it's on us as the players to recognize what's going on in the game and try to take it away.”
On the occasional times when the defense was set and the shots were contested, the Deacs made those, too, because by then their confidence was impossible to shake.
Seven different Wake players made at least one 3, which included Damari Monsanto, who made his season debut after missing the first 17 games with a left knee injury. Monsanto is a career 39% shooter from 3-point range. He came off the bench and made his first four 3-point attempts and finished with 12 points.
“We weren't even prepared for him to play today because he hasn't played leading up to it,” said U of L guard Mike James, who had 16 points. “He wasn't in the scouting report. When he came in, they told us he was a shooter before.”
It all added up to Louisville’s worst loss of the season.
This was the kind of blowout that could spiral into the Cards playing listless like last season played out.
White, a transfer from USC, didn’t experience those lows from last season, but was adamant the loss didn’t mean the Cards regressed.
“No, no, never. I don't ever think we take a step back win or loss,” White said.
White scored a team-high 17 points and made his first seven shot attempts before missing a 3. He returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 21 against Kentucky. He missed three games and played the last two coming off the bench.
White’s play offered little consolation after such a loss that even Payne acknowledge the Cards didn’t have the same competitive spirit as the past few games.
“If we allow a team to shoot the ball like that, you're not winning, and if they make 18 3s, you see what happens,” Payne said.
Quite a few Cards' fans are waiting to see what happens with Payne's job status. If Louisville has more games like Saturday at Wake, there won't be many more games with Payne around as head coach.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball looked unprepared to defend Wake Forest shooters
