Louisville basketball, behind 3-point shooting, starts Pat Kelsey era with Bahamas romp

The differences were jaw-dropping, starting with the final score.

Louisville men's basketball began the Pat Kelsey era with a 111-59 exhibition win over Bahamas Select on Tuesday as part of the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League in Nassau.

The Cardinals' romp in Game 1 of their Caribbean excursion doesn't count toward anything; but it should go a long way in restoring the faith of a beleaguered fan base that was subjected to more losses by 20-plus points than victories during the past two seasons under former head coach Kenny Payne .

Kelsey still hasn't missed in that regard since being handed the reins of the program in late March.

First, the 49-year-old Cincinnati native set the tone with a passionate introductory news conference. Then, he and his staff built a roster from scratch after every scholarship player from U of L's 2023-24 team hit the NCAA transfer portal in the wake of the regime change.

All that was left to do: roll the ball out onto a court inside a ballroom at the Baha Mar resort and see if their collection of mostly veteran talent lived up to its No. 1 ranking on On3.com .

"The best — you guys haven't even seen yet," said Brian Kloman , Kelsey's longest-tenured assistant, less than two weeks before the Cards departed for Nassau. "The best thing, I think, is going to be the product you see on the floor and how you can see real basketball being played at a high level."

To be sure: There's plenty of room for growth between now and the 2024-25 season opener ( Nov. 4 vs. Morehead State at the KFC Yum! Center ); and Tuesday night's competition won't be the norm. But, if Kelsey's team made one thing clear, it's that the floor — and ceiling — are higher than they ever were when Payne was at the helm.

"They prepared like pros," Kelsey told reporters afterward. "They took this game very seriously."

Added fifth-year forward Kasean Pryor : "We wanted to bring the excitement."

Pryor was the main beneficiary of Louisville's mesmerizing ball movement out of the gate. The 6-foot-10 transfer from South Florida opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers and led all scorers with 14 at halftime. Eventually, though, everyone got in on the act.

After only 10 full-go practices to prepare for this foreign tour, the Cards needed less than 20 minutes to notch more assists than they did during a single game under Payne's direction, 17. They finished with 38 (against 14 turnovers) on 43 made field goals; which would have been a program record had this one counted for real.

The high-water mark is 34 — set Dec. 23, 2003, against Virginia Military Institute.

"It's amazing how much can be accomplished," Kelsey said, "when nobody cares who gets the credit."

"That's how it is at practice," added junior guard Koren Johnson , who tallied a game-high nine assists to go along with 15 points. "We play against each other; so it's like we're building each other up for these games."

U of L's shooting? Sharp and intentional. Forty-seven of its 85 shot attempts were 3s, and only five were midrange jumpers.

Seven players combined to knock down 20 treys to finish two shy of the program record; which was set Nov. 17, 2007, against Hartford. Pryor, freshman forward Khani Rooths (14 points) and senior guard Reyne Smith (12) accounted for four apiece.

Smith, who spent the past three seasons playing for Kelsey at Charleston, finished the 2023-24 campaign tied for fifth in the country with 112 made 3s on 39.4% shooting. He went 28.6% from beyond the arc Tuesday night; but Kelsey ventured to say he had "more open looks in this game than he might have had all of last year."

Fifth-year guard J'Vonne Hadley , who transferred in from Colorado, led the Cards with 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting in 21 minutes and grabbed six rebounds — one off Long Beach State transfer Aboubacar Traore 's (11) team-high seven boards.

Pryor, who fouled out with 2:35 remaining in the second half, finished with 17 points. Terrence Edwards Jr. , a fifth-year guard/forward who was named the Sun Belt Conference's Player of the Year last season, rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10.

"It's absolutely ridiculous having these type of caliber players out here," Pryor said. "It's so fun to play with these guys. Everyone knows where everyone is; everyone knows how to make the right play; everyone can score when they want, but, at the end of the day, we're just trying to find each other and make each other better."

Sixth-year forward Noah Waterman was the only scholarship player who didn't see the court. The BYU transfer was sidelined due to a sprained ankle, Kelsey said. Sophomore forward James Scott , a Charleston transfer, left the game early in the second half after injuring a wrist on a hard fall while going up for a fast-break dunk. When speaking with reporters afterward, Kelsey said he did not know Scott's status for the final exhibition of the trip Thursday.

Kelsey was pleased with his team's defensive intensity in holding Bahamas Select to 32.8% shooting and a 1-for-17 clip from 3. Louisville forced 25 turnovers and turned them into 28 points.

The Bahamians were coming off a 109-104 loss to UNC Wilmington on July 28. Dominick Bridgewater was their top scorer in that game with 53 points on 18-for-31 shooting (10 for 19 from 3); but the Cards held the 24-year-old to only eight on Tuesday. Kelsey said senior guard Chucky Hepburn and others who checked Bridgewater took that assignment personally.

"He's a stinking piranha out there defensively," the coach said of Hepburn, a Wisconsin transfer who in his first start as U of L's point guard finished with three points, four assists (against zero turnovers) and a rebound.

What's there to improve, then, heading into Thursday? Kelsey pointed to guarding in transition after the Cards were outscored on fast breaks, 17-13. They also committed 22 fouls and went 5 for 15 at the free-throw line.

Louisville wraps up its first of two trips to the Bahamas this season against the University of Calgary . Tipoff is scheduled for noon, and you’ll once again be able to livestream the game for free via Floyd Street Media ’s YouTube channel.

Kelsey said the Dinos are a "polar-opposite" scout when compared with Bahamas Select; which is more of an all-star team than it is a cohesive unit. They've won eight Canada West conference championships and, in 2018, brought home a U Sports national championship.

"I told our guys, 'We've got to be ready to play on Thursday,'" Kelsey said.

After at least 14,000 people tuned in Tuesday night’s livestream broadcast, it's safe to say Cards fans will be ready to watch.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball, behind 3-point shooting, starts Pat Kelsey era with Bahamas romp