Brooks Holton, Louisville Courier JournalTue, November 25, 2025 at 2:09 AM UTC·2 min readKhani Rooths held strong while Eastern Michigan’s Mohammad Habhab backed him down on the block five minutes into the first half Monday night at the KFC Yum! Center.
Habhab moved into the paint and tried to hit the Louisville basketball sophomore with an up-and-under move – then a turnaround. But he spun directly into a collapsing Adrian Wooley, who slapped the ball out of his hands.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNineteen seconds later, after Isaac McKneely missed a wide-open look from beyond the arc and Aly Khalifa came down with an offensive rebound, Kobe Rodgers swung the ball to Rooths standing in 3-point territory. The Eagles didn’t close out, and the sophomore from Washington, D.C., made them pay with a triple that gave the No. 5 Cardinals (6-0) the lead for good.
Pat Kelsey’s team didn’t hit the century mark like it did in its three previous games against mid-major opponents to start the 2025-26 season. But UofL suffocated EMU with defense and a balanced offensive attack en route to an 87-46 victory.
The Cards, for a second time this campaign, held a foe to less than 20 points during the first half. Eastern Michigan was sitting at 17 on 6-for-31 shooting with eight turnovers leading to 11 Louisville points after the opening 20 minutes. They finished with a 28.1% clip from the field and went 2 for 15 (13.3%) from beyond the arc.
McKneely led all scorers with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting (5 for 9 from 3). He was followed by Khalifa and Mikel Brown Jr., who chipped in 11 apiece. For the former, it was a new season high; and he added six rebounds and five assists to boot across 18:34 minutes of run.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Cards' leading scorer, Ryan Conwell, was limited to a season-low seven points on 3-for-8 shooting while playing only 19 minutes, 43 seconds.
Up next for Louisville: a 9 p.m. tipoff Wednesday against NJIT at the Yum! Center. The Highlanders entered Monday with the lowest KenPom.com ranking of any opponent remaining on the Cards’ schedule, 349th out of 365 Division I teams.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball remains perfect, handles Eastern Michigan
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