Louisville survives New Mexico State in wild OT affair

Field Level Media|published: Sun 26th November, 16:16 2023

Nov 26, 2023; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; New Mexico State Aggies forward Clarence Jackson (25) attempts to shoot against Louisville Cardinals forward JJ Traynor (12) during the first half at KFC Yum! Center. credits: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Skyy Clark scored 29 points and Tre White added 22, including a clutch 3-pointer, as Louisville rallied for a 90-84 overtime win over visiting New Mexico State on Sunday.

Louisville made a late rally to force overtime as White hit a 3-point basket that tied the game 73-73 with 21 seconds. Kaosi Ezeagu had an opportunity to win the game but missed both free throws shots with 1.3 remaining.

Clark had seven free throws in overtime and White had six in helping the Cards break a two-game slide. Louisville finished 36-of-49 from the foul line, which included 15 of 16 foul shots by Clark and nine of 13 by White.

In the overtime session, the Aggies forged a 76-76 tie but a 10-4 spurt by the Cardinals (3-4) gave the home team an 86-80 lead with less than 20 seconds to play.

JJ Traynor came off the bench to score 20 points and had nine rebounds for Louisville. Ty-Laur Johnson added 10 points and six assists.

Jordan Rawls led the Aggies with 20 points. Ezeagu had 17 points and eight rebounds before fouling out in overtime. Christian Cook and Clarence Jackson added 12 apiece, as New Mexico State had six players foul out.

New Mexico State led 73-65 with 1:19 left in regulation before Louisville scored eight straight points to force overtime.

The Cardinals led 38-37 after a Traynor triple but the Aggies went on a 16-8 run to lead 53-46 with less than 10 minutes to play.

New Mexico State, nursing a 54-51 lead with 8:11 to go, outscored Louisville 13-9 over the next four and half minutes.

Louisville made an 18-10 run over the last eight minutes of the first half to close within 30-28. The Cardinals attacked the basket after starting the game 0-for-8 from the field. Clark had 10 of his 12 points, including two old-fashioned three-point plays, in that spurt.

The Aggies jumped to leads of 9-3 and 13-5. The Cardinals missed their first eight shots and didn't make a field goal until Traynor dunked with 12:45.

The Aggies played without leading scorer Femi Odukale, who is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

—Field Level Media

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