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Kasean Pryor cut toward the basket, caught a pass from Aly Khalifa in stride and threw down a vicious two-handed dunk.
The Louisville basketball forward swung from the rim just long enough to savor a moment months in the making – and avoid a technical foul. The KFC Yum! Center went nuts.
There was no shortage of highlight-reel moments during the No. 10 Cardinals’ 106-70 win over Jackson State on Thursday night. But none were as important as the 6-foot-10 Chicago native returning from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and making impact plays across his 16 minutes of run.
Pat Kelsey’s team is going to need more of that when archrival Kentucky visits town next Tuesday, Nov. 11, for what’s shaping up to be a showdown between top-10 teams in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Fans started chanting, “Beat UK!” with 3:16 to play in regulation.
Pryor scored his first points since Nov. 29, 2024, when he came up with a steal near midcourt and finished with a layup at the other end. That bucket gave U of L a 28-11 lead at the 9:49 mark of the first half. The aforementioned dunk followed a couple of minutes later, and another layup with 2:41 remaining before the break gave the Cards what was at that point their largest lead of the night, 50-29.
Pryor went scoreless during his second-half shift of eight minutes. He finished with six points on 3-for-8 shooting (0 for 3 from 3-point range), three rebounds and a steal.
It was another balanced night offensively for Louisville – albeit, against a team that gave up 113 points to No. 14 Illinois on Monday night. It wasn’t great from beyond the arc (10 for 33) but converted 25 of its 34 2-point tries (14 layups, nine dunks).
All 10 available scholarship players scored. Four reached double digits: Ryan Conwell (19), Mikel Brown Jr. (18), Khani Rooths (16) and Sananda Fru (12).
J’Vonne Hadley did not play Thursday. He’s going through concussion protocol, a team spokesperson said, which makes Pryor’s return before the Wildcats come to town that much more important.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
