Reyne Smith and Aboubacar Traore scored 15 points apiece off the bench to lead the Louisville men’s basketball team to a 70-50 win over Virginia on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.
The win was the first for the Cardinals (10-5, 3-1 ACC) in Virginia since 1990 and snapped a nine-game losing skid to the Cavaliers that dated back to 2020.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach (Ron) Sanchez, first of all,” said U of L head coach Pat Kelsey. “We’ve known each other for a long, long time — kind of came up in the business together. … He’s a great guy and he’s done a phenomenal job.
“[Virginia is] so tough defensively. We knew we had to execute to win tonight. I’m proud of our guys. Kader (Aboubacar Traore) had an awesome game. He’s faced a ton of adversity, cracked his arm in half about seven, eight weeks ago. He had surgery, came back, and it’s taken him a little bit of time to get back into rhythm. He was just terrific tonight. We’re fortunate to get the win.”
J’vonne Hadley added 11 points with five rebounds for Louisville, and Chucky Hepburn tallied 10 points and seven assists. Terrence Edwards Jr. and James Scott each grabbed a game-leading nine rebounds, while Traore reeled in eight boards.
Andrew Rohde scored a game-best 16 points to pace Virginia (8-6, 1-2). Isaac McKneely added 13 points, and Elijah Saunders chipped in 12 points.
The Cardinals, looking for their fifth straight win, will play again Tuesday when they host Clemson in an ACC matchup.
