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Kenny Payne compliments Pittsburgh player for trash talking him

Alex Weberby:Alex Weber•01/19/23
kenny payne
(Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Once again, the Louisville Men’s Basketball dropped an ACC game, as Pittsburgh handed it to the Cards during their Wednesday night matchup. The Panthers pulled away in the second half to eventually win by 20, but it was a key stretch in the first half that really separated them from Louisville.

The Cardinals actually led 14-10 in the early going, but Pittsburgh erased any dreams of a first ACC win by knocking down threes on five consecutive possessions to flip the score to 25-16 in favor of the Panthers. On one trip during the three-point barrage, Louisville head coach Kenny Payne screamed at one of his players to “GET THERE!” when a Pitt shooter was left wide open. Of course, the player was passed the ball and knocked down one of five threes in a row for the Panthers.

On his way back down the court, Nike Sibande, who hit the shot, informed Payne: “He didn’t get there, coach.” A funny quip from the Panther player as his team enjoyed a splashy run at the expense of Payne’s group.

Here was Payne’s recollection of the incident after the fact:

“What happened was the ball moved around, I could see the play coming, one of our players was sort of in the gap, but not really. I am yelling to him, ‘you have to get here, you have to get here’. He is looking around, boom, the ball hits his hands, the guy shoots the ball in rhythm. He turns around to me and says to me, ‘he’s not there, Coach, he’s too late’. I like that but I want my guys to be the aggressors.”

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Kenny Payne harbored no ill will and shared that he enjoys that sort of competitive back-and-forth.

“I like that,” admitted Payne. “I like to see a guy play with confidence. Fans or critics may say they want them quiet and to act like you’ve been there before. There is a battle going on and they are the aggressor. They are the predators, and we are the prey.”

Louisville has been nuthin’ but prey since the start of league play — and for most of the season really.

Also, after a tweet detailing the event surfaced during the game, Sibande actually commented on it afterward, sharing the mutual respect between he and Coach Payne:

Fun times for Pitt Panthers basketball? Seems like it.