Youngstown State University made the trip to Kentucky to face the fifth-ranked Cardinals, coming up short, 78-55, on Sunday afternoon.

Even though they lost, Penguins coach Jarrod Calhoun saw a bright spot in facing this challenge.

“We knew how good they were going to be,” Calhoun said. “I told our guys that win, lose, or draw we’re only going to get better from it.”

Despite being undersized compared to the Cardinals, YSU was able to outrebound Louisville with 46 compared to the Cardinals’ 38.

Staff photo / Brian Yauger Darius Quisenberry (3) of Youngstown State splits the Louisville defense during the Penguins’ loss to the Cardinals in Kentucky.

That rebounding ability comes from toughness, a virtue passed onto Calhoun from his mentor, Bob Huggins.

“I worked for Bob Huggins and he really stresses toughness,” Calhoun said. “It’s something we work on every day.”

The Penguins rebounding made a mark on Louisville coach Chris Mack, who opened his postgame press conference frustrated at his team for getting beat on the boards.

“I was a little disappointed looking at the box score and see that we gave up 19 offensive rebounds,” Mack said. “We’ve always prided our program’s ability to not give up second chances. We have to get much better in that area.”

In addition to the rebounding, YSU made the most of the second chances they were given, outscoring the Cardinals 25-4 on second-chance points.

Penguins guard Darius Quisenberry gave the team a spark heading into the break, hitting a 3-pointer as time expired to cut the Louisville lead to seven.

Quisenberry wasn’t afraid to drive to the net to get a bucket, finding himself on the floor, drawing a foul, multiple times during the afternoon.

Another name that left an impression was Naz Bohannon. Bohannon scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

“He’s a relentless guy,” Calhoun said. “He was a big-time football player in high school … he’s just relentless. He’s tough, and I think we really emphasize it. You are what you emphasize and we’ve done a good job of that over the years, just trying to come into these high major games and not back down. We didn’t back down.”

Also reaching the double-figure mark was Devin Morgan. Morgan shot 40 percent from the field and finished with 10 points.

The Penguins kept it close in the first half and went into the break trailing by seven. Going into the second half, the Cardinals began to pull away. YSU failed to make shots and Louisville capitalized on the opportunities.

The game came down to talent, and the Penguins were unable to make as many 3-pointers as they needed to stay in the game, according to Calhoun.

“In the second half I think you saw the talent,” Calhoun said. “The talent usually takes over. When you’re going to beat a team like this, you’ve got to make probably 12 to 15 threes, because they get easy baskets. Every possession is hard for us.”

The Penguins remain on the road when they travel even farther south to Louisiana to face the Ragin’ Cajuns on Friday.