Walker led the Flashes' scoring efforts with a game-high 28 points on 9-of-7 from the field, which included a 7-of-10 performance from deep. Senior Jalen Avery added 11 points and four assists, while junior Philip Whittington scored eight points and brought down five rebounds.
The Flashes opened the game with a 3-pointer from Avery followed by a 3-pointer from Williamson, which made it 7-5 in Louisville's favor. Walker drew a foul on a driving layup that sent him to the charity stripe to make his opening shot which tied the score at seven.
A deep trey from Avery gave Kent State its first lead of the game, 13-10, but a 3-point shot by Louisville evened the score to 13 all.
With nine minutes remaining in the opening half, a layup by Whittington capped a 9-0 run that cut Louisville's lead to 19-17. Louisville continued it offensive, striking before Avery dropped in a driving layup 45 seconds left in the half. The basket by Avery stopped a 6-0 run by Louisville with a driving basket that cut the Cardinals lead to 45-28 at the break.
Avery led the Flashes' scoring efforts in the opening half with eight points an assist. As a team, the Flashes completed on 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from the field and went 5-of-11 from long range (45.5 percent).
After the break, Louisville built a 24-point advantage by the 16:36 mark, but two-consecutive long-distance shots from Walker that cut the game to 54-38 with 13:45 left to play in the game.
Again, the Cardinals pushed the lead, but two additional long-range strikes from Walker closed the Cardinals lead to 75-61, with 4:32 left to play.
The Flashes made one final effort to close the gap as Akiean Frederick scored on a layup and buried two free throws. Antonio Williams converted on a three-point play, but Louisville would come away with an 83-70 win.
Kent State shot 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) from the field and went 11-of-24 (45.6 percent) from long range, while Louisville connected on 26-of-51 (51 percent) and 9-of-18 (50 percent) from 3-point range.
The Flashes are back in action as they travel to the West Coast for a matchup against Oregon State on Friday, Dec. 21 in Corvallis, Ore at 3 p.m. EST.
(Courtesy of KSU Athletics)