LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – The new UofL men’s basketball team faced its first real test of the season on Saturday when No. 12 Tennessee came to the KFC Yum! Center and while the crowd was electric for most of the game, the Cards couldn’t get any offensive momentum going and the Vols won 77-55.

While the Cards have already shown their willingness to live with the three-ball in their preseason games and season-opening win over Morehead, it proved to be a double-edged sword on Saturday when UofL only shot 25.6% from downtown and 26.7% from the field, taking more than half of their shots from beyond the arc.

The Cards showed some life midway through the second half, cutting the lead to eight, but Tennessee put its foot on the gas to go up by 20 in about six minutes.

Guards Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier led all scorers with 19 for the Vols, while Reyne Smith came off the bench to lead UofL with 18 points and five rebounds. Noah Waterman had 10 points, also off the bench for the Cards.

Louisville is off until Tuesday, Nov. 19 when they host foe Bellarmine. Tip-off for that game is at 7 p.m

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