Morehead State at Louisville

Louisville led Chattanooga by 25 with under a minute left in Monday's opener and still finished with a 14-point win, 84-70. The Cardinals shot 1-of-16 from three in the second half and 9-of-18 at the free-throw line. Coach Pat Kelsey said afterward that his team began playing the score. Louisville returns only 10.3% of last season's scoring, so this is a rebuilt group with one regular-season game together. Morehead State is 0-1 after an 83-58 loss at Western Kentucky and went 0-2 in exhibitions, including a 78-67 loss at Eastern Kentucky. Morehead State shared the OVC regular-season title last year with a 15-5 conference record, and seven players from that team are back. At Western Kentucky, they cut the deficit to nine in the second half and scored the final seven points of the game. A big favorite with a new rotation and a habit of easing off late is the kind of team that lets an underdog keep scoring after the outcome is settled. With a rebuilt Louisville still sorting out its rotation, I'm backing Morehead State with the points this afternoon.