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Kenny Payne shares positive message to Louisville after Virginia loss

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•02/16/23
Kenny Payne, Louisville Cardinals basketball coach
Louisville basketball coach Kenny Payne chats with a player during a game against Virginia on Feb. 15, 2023. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images)

Louisville dropped its fourth consecutive game on Wednesday night, falling to No. 7 Virginia in a close 61-58 game. Coach Kenny Payne came away with a positive message for his team after being impressed with the showing.

He knows Louisville was only a few makeable plays away from coming out with a win.

“Learn and then let your lessons that you learn from it translate to a win, no matter who you’re playing,” Payne said.

Those lessons?

Payne shared them with his team in the locker room following the loss to Virginia. He wanted them to remember how close the loss was and that a few plays here or there could have changed the outcome.

“I just in the locker room just now told the guys, ‘Look, you work hard. I push you hard,'” Payne said. “‘And I keep using the words win or learn to you. I’m just hoping that you’re learning how fragile winning is, and I want you to learn that even in losses there are lessons, but you deserve to come out with a win. And what a great message it would send to you, this fanbase, this university, this team, this program, if you can find a way to shock the world. Find a way to shock the world.'”

Louisville failed to do that against Virginia, but it came mighty close.

Kenny Payne’s positive message

The Louisville basketball coach has had a tough season, watching his team lose 14 of the last 15. So seeing the Cardinals come so close to upsetting the nation’s No. 7 team — on the heels of a competitive game against No. 19 Miami, no less — was encouraging in some sense.

Kenny Payne’s positive message was meant to encourage a focus on what made it possible.

“And you do that with desperate defensively, sharing the ball, passing the ball to each other efficiently, running great offense, locked in,” Payne said. “How many times did they just get layups at the basket, and our whole defense is predicated on tight shell, protecting the lane, the ball doesn’t get to the rim.”

Louisville will get another chance against a quality team in the near future.

Clemson is on deck Saturday, with a 7 p.m. ET tip time scheduled and a broadcast set for the ACC Network.