Louisville basketball score: Pat Kelsey records second exhibition win

Kasean Pryor wrote a note to himself on his sneakers before taking the court Monday night at the KFC Yum! Center for the Louisville men's basketball team's final preseason exhibition.

It said, "BALL 4 AMIR" — a tribute to his former coach of one season at South Florida, Amir Abdur-Rahim, who unexpectedly died Oct. 24 at age 43 due to complications that arose during a medical procedure.

"The way that Kasean talked about Amir tells you everything you need to know about the quality of leader and teacher that he was," Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey said.

Pryor attended Abdur-Rahim's memorial service Sunday at Kennesaw State, where his head-coaching journey began. Then, he dedicated his performance in U of L's 99-54 rout of local Division III program Spalding to him.

"I feel like it would be a disservice to not go out there and go as hard as I can," he said, "after all the love and time he put into making sure I was on top of my (game)."

Abdur-Rahim was a rising star in the profession. He was named the American Athletic Conference's Coach of the Year in 2023-24 after USF won a school-record 25 games and its first regular-season conference championship.

Pryor, whom Abdur-Rahim took a chance on as a senior coming out of the junior college ranks, played a big role in the Bulls' success. The 6-foot-10 forward from Chicago notched 12 double-doubles, surpassed 20 points on six occasions and had 14 appearances with 10 or more rebounds.

"I coach Kasean harder than anybody,'' Abdur-Rahim told GoUSFBulls.com in January, "because I know what he means to our team (and) I also know where he can go.

"It's a scary word — potential — but he has so much untapped potential."

In honoring his former coach Monday night, Pryor showcased his full potential.

He finished with 26 points — three shy of his career high — on 9-for-12 shooting in 20 minutes, 24 seconds off the bench. Afterward, he credited his Louisville teammates and coaches for uplifting him during this difficult time.

"It's been unbelievable," he said. "There's been no better support group."

The result was more of the same — another exhibition, another blowout win for Kelsey's team. How Louisville authored this one, however, was vastly different from how it went about dispatching Young Harris College of the DII ranks by 47 points last week.

That's because longtime Spalding coach Kevin Gray saw the Cards shoot 24 for 56 from 3-point range against the Mountain Lions and didn't want his team to suffer the same fate.

"You're not going to knock the lights out every night," Gray said.

U of L didn't — even though Gray admitted to standing on the sideline plenty of times thinking to himself, "That's going in." With Eagles defenders rushing players off the arc, it finished a measly 8 for 23 from deep — the worst showing in that regard of Kelsey's young tenure.

No problem; not when the Cards scored 50 points in the paint, converted Spalding's 28 turnovers into 45 points and tallied 24 assists on 35 baskets.

"You guys were asking the other day: 'Fifty-six 3s, is that what you want to do every night?' " Kelsey said. "No, we're going to do what the defense tells us to do."

Louisville's defense was the real tone-setter. It tied a program record for steals in a game with 21. Chucky Hepburn led the way with six.

The Eagles made only 16 field goals — none between the 10:11 mark of the first half and the 19:40 mark of the second.

Per statistician Kelly Dickey, this was only the third time in their 110-year history the Cards have logged at least 20 steals and assists during a game. The other two times were against Morgan State in 1998 and against Tulsa in 1975.

Koren Johnson finished second to Pryor with 20 points on 6-for-8 shooting in 23 minutes to go along with four steals and three assists. Neither broke double digits during last week's win against Young Harris.

"One of the major strengths of our team is our depth," Kelsey said. "It's not like you can look at our roster in preparation and circle two names (and say), 'Man, those are the guys that you have to stop.'"

Noah Waterman added 12 points and five rebounds; while Reyne Smith chipped in 10 points, four assists and two steals.

U of L was without its lone freshman, Khani Rooths, who was ruled out due to a concussion. It was not clear as of Monday night if he'll be ready to return to the court when the 2024-25 season officially begins at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 against Morehead State inside the Yum! Center.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.