In a game that nearly slipped away, the Louisville Cardinals held off a furious rally from the South Florida Bulls to secure an 83-79 victory Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Region.
Leading the charge was Isaac McKneely, who poured in 23 points and delivered a lights-out performance from beyond the arc, knocking down 7 of 10 three-point attempts. His sharpshooting proved vital as Louisville earned its first NCAA Tournament win since the final season under former head coach Rick Pitino.
The Cardinals (24-10) appeared to be cruising with a commanding 23-point lead midway through the second half, but South Florida (25-9) stormed back behind relentless full-court pressure. Louisville, playing without starting point guard Mikel Brown Jr. for the fifth straight game due to a back injury, struggled to handle the press down the stretch and nearly saw its advantage vanish in the final minutes.
Ryan Conwell provided a crucial second-half boost, scoring 11 of his 18 points after halftime, while reserve forward Sananda Fru recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to stabilize Louisville during key stretches.
South Florida was led by Joseph Pinion, who tallied a game-high 27 points. However, the Bulls were undone early by cold shooting, missing 20 of their first 21 attempts from three-point range. Despite entering the game with one of the nation’s top offenses—averaging 87.7 points per contest—the American Athletic Conference champions couldn’t fully overcome their sluggish start.
Head coach Bryan Hodgson and his Bulls saw their 11-game winning streak come to an end in just their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since their 2012 Sweet 16 run.
For McKneely, the performance was especially remarkable given recent adversity. The guard had four staples removed from his head earlier in the week after taking an accidental elbow during Louisville’s ACC Tournament loss to Miami. He joked afterward that feeling “a little lightheaded” might have helped fuel his hot shooting night.
Louisville now advances to face the Michigan State Spartans, the East Region’s No. 3 seed, which rolled past North Dakota State 92-67 in its opener. With Brown unlikely to return, the Cardinals will once again need resilience—and perhaps more heroics from McKneely—to keep their tournament run alive.
