U of L’s 3-point defense nonexistent in loss

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Did it surprise members of the Wake Forest men’s basketball team just how many open looks they were getting during Saturday’s 25-point win over Louisville?

“Not at all,” said Hunter Sallis, who spearheaded the Demon Deacons’ barrage from 3-point range with five treys. “We watched film; so we kind of knew that they would give us open shots.”

Different day, same script for the Cardinals (6-12, 1-6 ACC).

For the third time in a week, Kenny Payne’s team dug itself a hole too deep to climb out of on the defensive end before getting a chance to make halftime adjustments in the locker room.

If any were made, they didn’t alleviate the problem. Because, unlike losses at the hands of N.C. State last weekend and No. 3 North Carolina on Wednesday, this one only got uglier during the second half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

U of L trailed for all but 46 seconds and by as many as 26 points en route to its third straight loss, 90-65. And that’s despite shooting 45.8% from the field, outscoring Wake Forest in the paint, 3618, and committing only seven turnovers.

Alas, the 26th double-digit defeat in Payne’s 50th game as a head coach, and the 11th by 20 points or more, was a matchup nightmare waiting to happen.

Louisville’s 3-point defense (33.5%) entered Saturday tied for 200th in Division I. In its previous two losses, it allowed the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels to shoot a combined 47.6% from beyond the arc.

Wake (13-5, 5-2) boasted the 22ndbest 3-point percentage in the country, 38.2%. Against the Cards, its players were unconscious.

With 4:41 to play in the first half, the Deacs had already made 10 3s — more than Louisville allowed during the entirety of nine games this season — and led 36-24. By the time Tre White drained U of L’s first to cut the deficit to 59-44 at the 15:37 mark of the second half, they had racked up 11.

They finished with a season-high 18 on 35 attempts (51.4%), tied for the second most in program history.

For context, North Florida entered the weekend leading DI with 12.5 made 3s per game. And the most efficient team from long range was Indiana State, which owned a 41.3% clip.

“I can’t remember the last time a team made 18 3s in a game,” Payne said. “That’s pretty special.”

So special, in fact, that it set a new record for most 3s one of his teams has ever surrendered since he became a head coach. The previous high was 17, which occurred during a a 34-point shellacking at Pittsburgh on Feb. 7, 2023, the most lopsided loss of Payne’s tenure.

What happened? Payne and Mike James pointed to miscommunication when “tagging” ball screens.

In some instances, they said, a third defender crashed down from the perimeter to help prevent easy passes to a rolling big. With the Deacs firing away from deep early and often, that third defender should have stayed around the arc to limit rhythm 3s.

“If they’re hitting like that,” James said, “it’s going to be a long night.”

Added White, “After a certain point, it’s on us as the players to recognize what’s going on in the game and try to take it away.”

White led Louisville with 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting to go along with a teamhigh six rebounds in his return to the starting lineup after being sidelined from Jan. 3-10 due to a groin injury. Afterward, the sophomore said he’s feeling “like 80% to 90%” healthy but will be back to 100% soon.

James (16) and Huntley-Hatfield (12) were the only other Cardinals to break double digits.

But they didn’t come up during Payne’s postgame news conference. His son, a walk-on named Zan who made the first start of his six-year collegiate career, did.

It was a head-scratching move. The younger Payne, who also played for his father while he was an assistant coach at Kentucky, had clocked 30 minutes to this point of the season, during which he’s committed more fouls (three) than he has scored points (two).

Against Wake, he logged a careerhigh 17 minutes. His only contributions on the stat sheet were a foul 37 seconds into the game and a -12 plus-minus rating, tied for fourth-worst on the team.

When asked about his decision to start his son, Payne said he thought he could give the team some “solid minutes defensively.”

Those were relatively non-existent across the board Saturday. But White and James didn’t view the performance as a step back.

“I don’t ever think we take a step back, win or loss,” White said.

Added James, “I don’t think there are any step backs in life. I think we just got to learn from mistakes and then apply it to the next day and the next game.”

That next game is against stiff competition. Louisville hosts No. 6 Duke at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the KFC Yum! Center.