Wednesday night Louisville hosted their only exhibition game of the 2026-2027 season in the KFC Yum! Center with the Mercyhurst Lakers from the Northeast Conference invading. Mercyhurst made the jump to the conference and Division 1 in 2024.
Just prior to tipoff it was announced that Louisville center Gabe Dynes underwent shoulder surgery and would be out for four months. The 7'5" transfer from USC was one of the more intriguing roster pieces for The Ville based on height and rim presence alone.
The loss of Dynes did not make too much of a difference in the exhibition as Louisville cruised past Mercyhurst 71-39 on Wednesday night. The Cards put an extra emphasis on building a strong defensive roster after the first two years of the Pat Kelsey era were predicated on up-tempo high volume shooting teams. Tonight, that was put on display as The Ville only shot 13 three-point attempts (2-13). 56 of Louisville's 71 points came in the paint. Mercyhurst was held under 40 points (21 in the first half, 18 in the second half.)
Another aspect to watch has been the "small forward" position. Adrian Wooley started the first two games but failed to score tonight. De'Shayne Montgomery and Karter Knox have been solid options off the bench in bursts and could contend for that starting spot. Montgomery and Knox each ended the game with 10 points.
William Caudill
Top transfer Flory Bidunga got things going early for the Cards, making two layups for the Cards who raced out to a 6-0 lead just 1:12 into the game warranting a timeout from the Lakers. Mercyhurst would outscore Louisville 5-2 the next three and a half minutes of game action and after a sloppy start the Cards led 8-5 with 15:10 left in the first half.
Louisville came out with a lineup of Alvaro Folgueiras, Seth Trimble, Montgomery, Knox and Obinna Ekezie Jr. The length and athleticism of that lineup had the Lakers scrambling after three easy lay-ups in a minute (Trimble, Folgueiras, Knox). The Cards continued to play with lineups and Wooley would find Knox for his first rim-rattling dunk in the Yum! Center followed by a Folgueiras putback to put the Cards up 18-8.
Alvaro Folgueiras goes for a loose ball Wednesday night vs Mercyhurst. | William Caudill
With the Cards leading 20-10 with 10 minutes left in the half, it got ugly. Louisville only made three field goal attempts the rest of the way and were outscored 11-10 in the last 10 minutes. Weak interior passes forced Louisville turnovers, the inability to finish down low and make a shot had the lead in single digits at the half (30-21). The Cards were 0-for-6 from three-point range and 26 of the 30 points came in the paint.
Adjustments were made at the half, and Louisville came out with more intensity for the second twenty minutes. The Cards outscored the Lakers in the opening segment 19-7 to race out to a 49-28 lead with 14:29 left. Bidunga had 10 points in that stretch including three dunks, Trimble added six points on layups and Ekezie sent home a two-handed dunk and free throw.
The Cards went three almost three minutes again without scoring and it took until 11:51 left in the game, but Louisville finally hit their first three off the hands of Isaac Ellis to push the Louisville lead to 52-31. Over the next six minutes, a Shelstad three and Bidunga dunk were the extent of the scoring for The Ville. Montgomery rattled off six straight off and The Ville led 63-35. Knox scored five the rest of the way and Boyuan Zhang pitched in his first bucket as a Cardinal to secure the win.
Karter Knox with a two-handed dunk vs Mercyhurst. | William Caudill
In the pregame writeup we put emphasis on the big men shining against smaller competition. Bidunga finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Ekezie Jr finished with six points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
Jackson Shelstad led the Cards to a win at Kansas last Wednesday but finished tonight with five points on 2-of-7 shooting. Fifth year transfer Seth Trimble was the consistent hand, contributing 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Louisville will tip off the regular season Monday night at 9 pm against Chattanooga on the ACC Network.
Coach Kelsey Postgame :
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/louisville as Cards Cruise Past Mercyhurst 71-39 in Exhibition Finale .
