Louisville basketball rolled to a win Saturday over Kent State thanks to an impressive performance from Christen Cunningham.
Taking the ball up the floor at breakneck speed, Christen Cunningham deftly sidestepped a defender to avoid a likely ankle sprain — and he got his reward at the end of the play.
After a near travel by Steven Enoch, a dangerous cross-court pass by V.J. King and a ball saved from going out of bounds by Khwan Fore, Cunningham picked up the ball just inside half court and was forced to shoot with three seconds left on the shot clock.
His 3-pointer went in as the shot-clock buzzer sounded with 7:10 left in the first half to cap a 6-0 Louisville run on an imperfect possession kept alive due to pure hustle.
Louisville (8-3) outworked Kent State (8-2) to earn an 83-70 win Saturday at the KFC Yum Center and remain undefeated at home.
After two games of imploring his team to get the ball inside, Louisville coach Chris Mack was rewarded Saturday with a strong offensive showing around the rim and on the perimeter.
The Cardinals shot 51 percent from the field and 9 of 18 from behind the arc (a season-high 50 percent) while scoring 28 points in the paint with just 10 turnovers.
"Kudos to our guys for being strong with the ball and making the right decision," Mack said. "I think we're getting better with getting the ball in the paint and making decisions from there."
Cunningham shot 5 of 6 from the floor while pouring in a season-high 17 points. Dwayne Sutton scored 16 points and hit 5 of 10 shots. Jordan Nwora finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Fore cracked the starting lineup for the second game in a row, taking the floor alongside Cunningham, Sutton, Nwora and Enoch.
Louisville shot just one 3-pointer in its first seven field goal attempts, scoring six of its first seven points in the paint. Kent State, however, was effective shooting mid-range and 3-point jumpers and took a 13-10 lead seven minutes into the game.
The Golden Flashes started to have trouble getting looks inside the 3-point line and at the same time struggled to keep pace with the Cardinals on offense.
Louisville shot 60 percent from the floor and closed the first half making 8 of 10 shots to wield a 17-point lead at the break. In the second half, the Cards continued to finish through contact and let their guards drive the ball just as much as the big men. Louisville went 22 of 29 from the foul line.
Cunningham had tallied 12 points by halftime, including a pull-up jumper buried two seconds before the buzzer.
“It’s really fun to coach CC because it’s like I'm coaching a 35-year old veteran out there, and that’s a luxury a lot of college coaches don’t have," Mack said.
Louisville's graduate transfer point guard made a point of drawing contact in the lane to get to the free-throw line. He demonstrated good situational awareness and stimulated ball movement but also took initiative, twice getting shots to fall with less than three seconds on the shot clock.
"I usually have the ball in those situations and I'm really comfortable with it," Cunningham said. "Just trying to create something whether it's a quick driving kick for the shooters or getting to the rim or me pulling up."
Cunningham was perfect from the free-throw line until he missed two shots with 2:30 left in the game, and missed his only field goal on a contested layup with 1:57 to go.
Darius Perry and Sutton took defensive responsibilities seriously when guarding Kent State's top scorers, Jaylin Walker and Jalen Avery. Walker and Avery combined for 14 first-half points and two assists but went 4 of 10 from the field and turned the ball over twice.
On one first-half play, with Malik Williams walled up between him and the basket and Perry reaching in and pestering from behind, Walker was called for a travel. Perry stomped his right foot three times on the hardwood as the public address announcer blared, "Louisville basketball!"
Although Walker finished with 28 points and Avery with 11 points, Kent State never closed the deficit from double figures.
"There are sometimes when you do everything you can defensively and a guy hits shots that you have no control of defending," Mack said. "Jaylin Walker, some of the circus shots that he hit at the end of the game I think made the margin a little bit closer than I really thought it was."
Twelve minutes into the game, the Cardinals still hadn't let the Golden Flashes grab an offensive rebound. The trend continued as the Cards emphasized boxing out on the defensive end.
Louisville finished with a 34-27 rebounding edge and allowed Kent State just 5 second-chance points.
Louisville's wings were most active on the glass as Sutton and Nwora pulled down 13 of the team's 24 defensive boards. Louisville finished with a 77-percent defensive rebounding rate.