WKU Men’s Basketball (8-2) dropped their game against the Louisville Cardinals (1-9) 94-83 in a Wednesday night match-up at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville.

“Give Louisville lots of credit,” said Head coach Rick Stansbury. “When you make shots it changes everything and they made shots, they made timely shots.”

WKU went into the game looking to get its second straight win against the Cardinals. After WKU’s loss, the Cardinals will now lead the all-time series 43-40 against the Hilltoppers.  

Fifth year senior Jairus Hamilton had an outstanding performance even in the loss. The forward put up a double-double tallying 20 points and 12 rebounds. Hamilton also had an effective night in passing with four assists. 

“I went out there and played hard,” said Hamilton. “My teammates are really the reason I got that [double-double].”  

Dayvion Mcknight also carried his stellar start to the season into tonight. The Junior guard led the team in scoring with 25 points. Mcknight shot 50% from the field and also made his presence known on the glass taking in five rebounds. 

The teams stayed close from the tip-off. The score was tied at seven through the first five minutes. The Hilltoppers were able to find some momentum out of the media timeout. A three from sixth year guard Luke Frampton took the Hilltoppers into the break with an 18-10 lead. 

However, the Cardinals responded in a big way. Louisville went on an 11-2 run to take the lead, 21-20. Louisville then continued to create separation in the ball game. A buzzer beating three from Cardinal forward JJ Traynor sent Louisville to the locker room up 46-35. Louisville went into the half on a 36-17 run after trailing by eight early in the half.

Louisville continued to dominate the game out of the locker room. The Cardinals took a 58-41 lead into the first commercial break. The Hilltoppers started to find the bottom of the net but couldn’t get a big enough run to close the gap. Louisville kept the momentum alive until the end of regulation, beating WKU, 94-83. 

“We scored 48 points in the second half,” said Stansbury. “We did enough offensively to win but we just couldn’t stop them.”

WKU will play its second of its two power five matchups on Thursday, Dec. 2 when they travel to Colombia, South Carolina to face the South Carolina Gamecocks at Colonial Life Arena.   

Sports reporter Jake McMahon can be reached at [email protected]