Box Score Recap: Kentucky Wesleyan vs. Louisville

D2 Kentucky Wesleyan went into the KFC Yum! Center and took down Louisville last night. It’s the second year in a row Louisville lost an exhibition game to a D2 school. Using the wonderful Play Index from College Basketball Reference, let’s dive into the box score to see just how improbable this win was for the Panthers.

Rebounding

The major stat that stands out here is the offensive rebounding numbers for Kentucky Wesleyan. The Panthers pulled down 16 o-boards, which gave them 14 more shot opportunities than the Cards. To put that into perspective, since 2010, Louisville has played 438 games. They’ve had a offensive rebound margin of -11 or more only six times. The Cards were outrebounded by 14 or more 11 times in that span – only three times by non-power conference opponents.

Opponent Shooting Percentage

Louisville held Kentucky Wesleyan to 36.1% from the field. Since 2010, Louisville is 113-10 when holding opponents to a field goal percentage of 36.1% or less.

Free Throws

Louisville had 38 free throw attempts and went a very respectable 31-38 (81.6%) from the line. Since 2010, Louisville has had 38 or more free throws attempts 12 times. They were 12-0 in those games.

Mike James went 10-10 from the free throw line. He’s only the sixth Louisville player to make 100% of their free throws with at least 10 attempts in the last 13 seasons.

Assists

Louisville only registered seven assists last night. They’ve lost 25 straight games when they’ve had 7 assists or less. They failed to surpass that benchmark 11 times last year, tied for second most behind Cal State Northridge (12).

Blocks and Steals

Louisville had eight blocks and 11 steals – which by most standards is a pretty good night on the defensive end. Since 2010, the Cards are 12-1 in games where they reach those benchmarks, with the lone loss coming to Kentucky in 2011.

Total Defense

Since 2010, teams are 302-9 when holding opponents to 36% from the field, 26% from three and recording at least 8 blocks and 11 steals.

Follow @trillydonovan on X (Twitter). Stay tuned to burnerball.com to keep up with all things coaching carousel and transfer portal.

Burner Ball is sponsored by prepscouting.net. Prep Scouting is a NCAA Certified Scouting Service used by over 100 men’s college basketball programs since 2010.