NCAA BASKETBALL: Isaac McKneely rains treys as Louisville outlasts South Florida

Isaac McKneely drilled seven 3-pointers to help No. 6 Louisville build a big lead and hold off No. 11 South Florida 83-79 on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament first round in Buffalo, N.Y.

McKneely matched his season high with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Ryan Conwell added 18 points with six assists, while Sananda Fru recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinals (24-10), who won their first NCAA Tournament game since 2017. Louisville will face No. 3 seed Michigan State on Saturday.

"From the get-go, on both ends, I thought our defense was really good," McKneely said. "When our defense is really good, we're getting out in transition, we're getting 3s, dunks, layups, whatever it is. My teammates did a great job finding me early in the game."

South Florida’s Joseph Pinion scored a career-high 27 points, and Izaiyah Nelson added 22, but the Bulls (25-9) saw their 11-game win streak end. Leading scorer Wes Enis, who averages 16.8 points per game, managed just four points on 2-of-15 shooting, including 0-for-11 from beyond the arc. South Florida finished 5 of 33 from 3-point range (15.2%).

The Cardinals shot 53.8% from the floor and 52% from 3-point range, appearing in control when they led by 22 with 11:23 left. However, Louisville committed 10 turnovers in the final 9:39, forcing a tense finish.

"It was the longest 10 minutes of my life, there's no question about it," Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said. "We haven't played against a team like that, that has pressed us like that. So it was a heck of a test on a really, really big stage. Fortunately, we came out on top."

The Bulls cut the deficit to six points with under two minutes remaining, but Pinion missed two key 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds.

After a slow start, Louisville pulled away with a 19-4 run, featuring 3-pointers from four different players, to take a 24-11 lead with 8:31 left in the first half. South Florida struggled early, shooting 4-of-24, including 1-of-17 from 3-point range, as the Cardinals led 37-27 at halftime.

Louisville responded to a second-half push by the Bulls with a 16-4 run, extending the lead to 20 points with 14:26 remaining.

"We felt like coming in that we had a chance to beat them," Bulls coach Bryan Hodgson said. "We obviously did not play well. A big part of that is they did a great job guarding us, and we shot ourselves in the foot in the second half getting down 23."

-Field Level Media/Reuters