Kenny Payne reveals how Duke forced Louisville into turnovers

Louisville head coach Kenny Payne was on a high when the Cardinals knocked off Clemson, but Duke was a different story Monday night. The Blue Devils beat up Louisville 79-62 as the Cardinals could not get anything going offensively due to turnovers.

Payne was adamant about Duke denying Louisville’s offense up and down the floor throughout the game. It was win No. 20 for the Blue Devils while the Cardinals failed to pull off two straight upsets.

It was a tough performance from Jon Scheyer’s crew, but Payne was honest about his team’s effort at points during the contest.

“I thought they denied us all over the court,” Payne said postgame. “I thought we refused to get in the bodies and man up and fight to get open. We work on it every day. I just thought that they put us on our heels. At times it looked like the environment intimidated us. Not acceptable. We tried to explain to them what kind of environment this is. We have a coach on the staff who played here,coached here. 

“Went through everything that this program is and what it means to be here and how they were going to come out and play against us. Something didn’t click. We, as coaches, me personally, I take the blame for that. Couldn’t get them to play the way they needed to play with the fight that we needed to get a win.”

The rebounds were in favor of Duke. The Blue Devils had 33 total and 12 offensive boards, three more than the Cardinals mustered.

“I don’t know how many points they had off offensive rebounds, but they dominated us. Sixteen points. Disappointed in the way we came out and played. Thought we started out pretty good, and then we put them on their heels and then when they hit us back, we wilted.

“We wilted and never got it back. Give them credit. Good team. NCAA Tournament team. They got good players all around the court, one through five, they’re tough to guard and when they do miss shots, they go to the boards.”

Despite the loss, El Ellis had another standout performance. He had 21 points, two rebounds and seven assists.

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Louisville gets back into action Saturday on the road against Georgia Tech at 2:00 p.m. ET.