LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville men's basketball team narrowly avoided another upset loss against cross-town rival Bellarmine Wednesday night, but that's not what everyone is talking about.
Louisville freshman point guard Ty-Laur Johnson played just three minutes in the first half. According to head coach Kenny Payne, it was because UL didn't supply Johnson with his preferred variety of compression tights to wear under his shorts.
"You ready for this? I probably shouldn't tell you this," Payne said to reporters after the game. "We didn't have the tights that he wanted, so he didn't know if he wanted to play. Oh yeah, you heard it. We didn't have the tights that he wanted - that we've never had for him - and he decided, 'I don't feel like I can go.'"
You can watch Payne's full response below.
Johnson played 15 minutes in the second half and ended the night with eight points and five assists as the Cardinals held off Bellarmine 73-68.
"That's what young people do," Payne said before chuckling. "I don't even know. But he figured it out in the second half. He accepted the fact we didn't have the tights that we've never had for him, and he played. And he played well."
Former UL star Peyton Siva posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying Payne's quotes could have use further context, and said a nagging injury could play a role:
"I think that quote probably needs context. (Now I don’t know what actually happened) but I’m sure Ty probably wanted those McDavid compression tights (more support and compression for the groin) since he’s been dealing w/ a groin injury since NY."
Skyy Clark scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half as Louisville rallied to improve their record to 4-3.
Clark was 7-of-13 shooting with three 3-pointers. Tre White added 14 points and Mike James had 10. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points for the Cardinals.
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