Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. - No. 11 Louisville defeated No. 17 Kansas 89-83 Wednesday night in Allen Fieldhouse during the Jayhawks' second exhibition of the season.
Kansas forward Tre White led all players in scoring with 25 points, shooting 4-of-8 from three, while Melvin Council Jr. added 20 points and freshman Tyran Stokes scored 15 with a game-high nine rebounds. Kansas freshman guard Taylen Kinney led the game with six assists.
Louisville was led by Jackson Shelstad who recorded 23 points and was 4-of-8 from three. As a team, the Cardinals shot 48% from the field and 47% from three, including 9-of-14 from deep in the second half. Kansas shot 41% during the game.
Kansas jumped out to an early 10-3 lead after a 7-0 run early in the game. Following a block from junior Paul Mbiya, White made his first three-pointer of the game before forcing a steal, leading to a Council fast break dunk.
From there, Louisville responded with a 7-0 run of its own and the two teams continued to trade points throughout the rest of the first half. Eight different Cardinals scored in the first half as they shot 41% from the floor compared to Kansas' 36%. Both teams shot 31% from beyond the arc in the half.
Louisville took its first lead of the game, 35-34, with 1:42 left in the first half, however it only lasted 17 seconds as Kansas tied the game on a free throw on its next possession. Despite the Jayhawks leading for 16:41 in the first half, they only carried a one point advantage into the break, leading 37-36.
Both teams came out scorching to start the second half, with Louisville opening on a 10-5 run in the first 2:07 out of the break, fueled by going 3-of-4 from three point range to take a 46-42 lead. Following the first media timeout of the second half, the Cardinals continued to shoot well and went on an extended 18-to-5 run to take a 58-47 advantage.
Both teams continued to push the pace, with Louisville shooting 64.3% from three, going 9-of-14 during the first 16 minutes of the second half. Despite the barrage of threes, Kansas kept punching back and after White knocked down a trio of free throws, the Jayhawks cut the lead to six, 82-76 with 3:12 left in the game.
Stokes took over down the final stretch, blocking a driving Cardinal before grabbing an offensive rebound on the next possession which led to another White two-pointer. Stokes then stole the ball on the next possession and took it all the way to the hoop, cutting Louisville's lead to two, 82-80, with 2:03 to go. Despite his efforts, the Jayhawks comeback came up short and Louisville held on to win 89-83.
UP NEXT
Kansas will wrap up its exhibition play by hosting No. 2 Duke on Sunday, October 25, in the Blue Blood Classic. The game is set to begin at 12 p.m. CT and will be televised live on ESPN.