Louisville’s no good, very bad week got even worse — like, a lot worse — on Tuesday night as it fell in gut-wrenching fashion in a 61-60 loss at home to Appalachian State in one of the most painful ways imaginable.
The Cardinals fell 61-60 to the Mountaineers and never led in the game. Nonetheless, they gave themselves a fighting chance by cutting the lead to one point in the final minute. Louisville then had a great look at a go-ahead bucket at the buzzer, which dropped but came just after the final horn.
The loss continued what has been a week full of pain in Louisville after losing a head-to-head recruiting battle to rival Kentucky for No. 2 overall prospect DJ Wagner.
Louisville, under first-year coach Kenny Payne, falls to 0-3 on the season with the loss, marking the first time it has lost each of its first three home games in a season since 1940, a year it opened with losses to Kentucky Wesleyan, Evansville and Transylvania, and the first time it has opened a season 0-3 since 1986. The loss follows two other surprising defeats to Bellarmine and Wright State to open the season after Louisville was favored by at least five points in each.
