Louisville forward Kasean Pryor made his much-anticipated return to the court Thursday night, just in time to get his first taste of competition in nearly a year ahead of Tuesday's Top 25 showdown against Kentucky.
Not that he was particularly needed, even with sixth-year forward J'Vonne Hadley sitting out the game due to concussion protocol, because the No. 11 Cardinals (2-0) crushed their second opponent in a row, following Monday's 104-45 beatdown of South Carolina State with a 106-70 rout of Jackson State in the KFC Yum! Center.
Pryor entered the game for the first time to a rousing ovation from the crowd of 14, 412 at the 16:27 mark and was shuttled in and out the rest of the evening by coach Pat Kelsey, playing mostly in 2-3-minute segments.
"Unbelievable feeling checking in," Pryor said. "I was very excited after a year to get out there playing with these guys. I feel happy and blessed."
Pryor wound up with 16 minutes of action, scoring eight points on 3-of-8 shooting and getting three rebounds.
"It's a process," he said. "The journey's not over."
"The ovation KP got was awesome and well-deserved," Kelsey said. "It was great to see him out there again. It's going to take a little bit of time, he's going to get more comfortable and more in rhythm, but it was great to see him out there flying around wreaking havoc and stuff like that."
Pryor played in only six games before tearing his ACL in the seventh against Oklahoma in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis Thanksgiving week.
"We all remember the level he was playing at down there," Kelsey said. "I mean, that's when the ReviveVILLE started, reviving, right? Chucky (Hepburn) took off, Kasean took off, J'Vonne. . . I mean, all those guys, it was really, really rolling. And just like the air out of the balloon, man, when that kid went down.
"It was like a football injury where it was impact. Chucky got pushed into him and it was a gruesome deal. He did some major damage there. He was diligent in his rehab. He worked really hard. I'm so excited to have him back. He's going to allow our team to go to a new other level."
As for the game, it was another dominant performance against a outmanned low, low major from the SWAC, where Jackson State is picked to finish third this season and had lost its season opener to No. 14 Illinois 113-55 on Monday.
Ryan Conwell led U of L with 19 points, while Mikel Brown had 18 points and a game-high nine assists, Khani Rooths got 16 points, along with a game-best 10 rebounds, and Sananda Fru added 12 points, most of them coming on dunks. Kobe Rodgers, who played for Kelsey at Charleston, came off the bench to contribute seven points, five assists, four steals, three rebounds and zero turnovers in 18 minutes.
"Kobe is the catalyst off the bench for us, team captain," Kelsey said. His role and his job is to raise the level of intensity when he comes in the game. And I thought he's done a phenomenal job of that, accepting that role, embracing that role."
Daeshaun Ruffin, the SWAC preseason player of the year, topped all scorers with 22 points. Former U of L player Devin Ree was scoreless in 10 minutes.
In the final three minutes, diehard fans who remained in their seats started chanting, "Beat UK, Beat UK."
"Yeah, I heard it," Kelsey said. "I'm very well aware how much it mean to this entire state. It means a ton to their fan base. It means a ton to our fan base. It means a ton for college basketball. So it's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere here in the Yum Center Tuesday."
MONDAY MARGIN ONE OF THE WIDEST
U of L basketball historian Kelly Dicky, who actually calls himself "Louisville Cardinals stats junkie," posted on X that the Cardinals' 104-45 rout of South Carolina State Monday was the largest margin of victory in program history. Here's the list:
1. 72 - 99-27 vs. Georgetown College, Dec. 2, 1944
2. 65 - 87-22 vs. Nichols Hospital, Feb. 19, 1944
3. 64 - 104-40 vs. Morehead State, Dec. 27, 2004
4. 61 - 87-26 vs. Savannah State, Nov. 24, 2014
4. 61 - 92-31 vs. Rutgers, March 13, 2014
6. 59 - 104-45 vs. South Carolina State, Nov. 3, 2025
Kasean Pryor made his debut Thursday night. (Louisville Athletics photo)
