Kenny Payne downplays Louisville's physical fatigue

Louisville has lost a lot this year, but none have been more frustrating than Wednesday’s 61-58 defeat at the hands of No. 7 Virginia.

The Cardinals didn’t allow a single Cavalier bucket in the final three minutes of the game but still couldn’t close out the win at home. Head coach Kenny Payne discussed Louisville’s inability to close out against UVA, but wasn’t harsh on his team for their losing effort. The Cards finished the game on a 6-1 run that gave Louisville multiple opportunities to tie the game in the closing seconds, but it was not to be.

Instead, Payne wants this to be used as a learning experience for his guys. They have the ability to finish games, but what his team doesn’t understand is that it’s all mental when it gets down to crunch time.

“At a certain point, I believe with great teams, great players — it’s not about how you feel physically, it’s where you are mentally. So, physically you may be worn out, but mentally, are you strong enough to continue to fight,” Payne said after the loss. “So, we tap out physically, that’s why we run every single day, that’s why we do conditioning every single day. That’s why we do conditioning into defensive slides and defensive rotations every single day.

“That’s why we run and do shooting after we run, I want you to play basketball from a fatigued state so that your body feels like it can’t go anymore, but your will to win and your mentality is so strong that you can. That’s what I’m trying to get to. I’m encouraged because I see us against really good teams, and I see us clicking. We’ve just got to do it a little bit better.”

The loss stacks the 23rd defeat onto Louisville’s 2022-23 resume — the most of any team in any major Division I conference. They have five games left on their schedule before the ACC Tournament, which some might say it can’t come quickly enough for the ailing Cards.