Louisville basketball blasts NJIT, onto toughest part of noncon slate

Ryan Conwell drilled a 3-pointer 14 seconds in to open the scoring between Louisville basketball and NJIT on Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center. Mikel Brown Jr. spotted Sananda Fru rolling to the rim, and they connected for an alley-oop on the No. 5 Cardinals’ next possession. Fru proceeded to spike a Highlanders layup attempt into Denny Crum Court with authority 29 seconds later.

If you didn’t know by then that this one was going to get ugly, the visitors from the America East Conference had no one guarding Isaac McKneely of all people while he was standing beyond the arc two possessions later. Thus began a butt-kicking of epic proportions.

UofL (7-0) blasted NJIT (3-5), 104-47 behind 20 3s (two shy of tying the program's single-game record) on 47 attempts — a new high-water mark.

One fan in Section 104 began screaming at Coach Pat Kelsey to put walk-on Cole Sherman into the game with 10:18 to play in regulation. He wish wasn't granted until only 1:10 remained on the clock, but the troops could have been called off much earlier.

Conwell accounted for eight of Louisville's made triples en route to only the third 30-point outing of his career. After scoring only seven on 3-for-8 shooting during Monday's win over Eastern Michigan, he went for a game-high 32 on a 9-for-17 (8-for-15) clip.

Only three other Cards hit in double digits: McKneely (17), Adrian Wooley (15) and J'Vonne Hadley (12).

Conwell and Kobe Rodgers grabbed a game-high nine rebounds apiece on a night when UofL went +38 on the boards (59-21) — a new single-game program record.

Up next for Louisville: the toughest stretch of its nonconference schedule.

The Cards head to No. 21 Arkansas – where familiar faces abound between John Calipari and Kenny Payne – for their first true road game: a 7 p.m. tipoff Dec. 3 as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. Three days later, they’ll be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to play No. 24 Indiana.

Kelsey’s team then rekindles its longtime rivalry with Memphis on Dec. 13 at the Yum! Center. Last but not least, a trip to Knoxville for a rematch against No. 16 Tennessee and a chance for payback after the Volunteers dominated last year’s meeting in the 502.

This story will be updated.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: UofL basketball blasts NJIT, onto toughest part of noncon schedule