Bellarmine outscored Louisville by 11 points after halftime, but a monster first half was still enough to carry the Cardinals to an 81-60 victory Monday night in their final exhibition tune-up for the 2016-17 season.
On the shoulders of some hot outside shooting, Louisville led by as many as 37 points in the first half and carried a 49-17 advantage into the locker room. The Cardinals were sloppy in the second half, however, and better than 50 percent shooting from the floor for Bellarmine allowed the Knights to make the final score respectable.
It also left Rick Pitino in a fairly foul mood for his postgame press conference.
"It just goes to show you the inexperience of this team," Pitino said of his squad's lackluster second half performance.
Sophomores Donovan Mitchell and Deng Adel led U of L with 13 points apiece, while Tony Hicks scored 12 and Quentin Snider added 11. David Levitch -- sporting a short and sharp new haircut -- scored nine points off the bench, while Jaylen Johnson led all Cardinals with 11 rebounds.
The victory kept Louisville undefeated in exhibition games under the direction of Rick Pitino, and moved the Cards to 19-0 all-time in exhibition or regular season games against Bellarmine.
The real show starts Friday night when Louisville opens its 2016-17 season by hosting Evansville.
