Sophomore guard Mike James scored 14 of his team-high 25 points in the second half as host Louisville came back from down eight with little more than nine minutes to play to edge UMBC 94-93 in the season opener for both clubs Monday night.
Senior forward JJ Traynor added 13 points for the Cardinals while freshman Ty-Laur Johnson added 12 and sophomore guards Tre White and Skyy Clark each scored 11.
Sophomore Dion Brown led all scorers with 28 points and junior Bryce Johnson added 21 for the Retrievers . Senior Khydarius Smith added 13 points and five rebounds off the bench.
UMBC led 61-60 with 12 minutes to play before going on an 11-4 run to extend its lead to 72-64 with 9:22 to play. The Cardinals clawed back and tied the game at 75-75 on a James layup with 6:44 left in the game. With the game tied at 83-83, Brown connected a long 3-pointer with 3:16 on the clock.
Louisville clamped down after that, however, scoring eight straight points — the last two on free throws by James for a 91-86 lead with 1:28 to play. UMBC didn’t go away, tying the game 92-92 on a Brown layup with 18.6 seconds left. But Traynor’s put-back dunk after a scramble under the basket with seven seconds left gave the Cards a 94-92 lead.
Smith made the first of two foul shots after he was fouled by Clark with 2.4 seconds to play but his second shot bounced off the rim to the left and time ran out during a scramble for the ball.
Down 48-40 at the break, Louisville opened the second half on a 12-2 run to grab the lead at 52-50 with 17:16 left in the game. But UMBC answered with eight straight points and maintained a lead until James tied it at 75-75.
Down 31.29, UMBC took control of the game with a 17-2 run in the first half which included 10 straight points. The Retrievers continuously zipped past Cardinal defenders for easy layups resulting in 19-of-35 shooting (54.3 percent) in the half.
On the other end, Louisville shot 15 of 36 (41.7 percent), which included 1 of 9 from deep. Louisville turned the ball over nine times in the opening half.
Louisville finished the game shooting 50 percent (34-for-68) and outrebounded UMBC 47-35. The Cards had 60 points in the paint and 28 second-chance points.
Louisville honored former coach Denny Crum, who passed away in May, with a moment of silence before the game and a halftime dedication during which the school colored the seat in which he sat during his career black amid a sea of red seats in the arena.
Louisville next hosts Chattanooga on Friday while UMBC will host Marist on Saturday.
–Field Level Media