BLACKSBURG, Va. — The last time Louisville men's basketball played Virginia Tech, head coach Kenny Payne walked away from the game feeling "disappointed, discouraged, hurt."

After Sunday's 75-68 loss at Cassell Coliseum, there was only disappointment.

His Cardinals (4-4, 0-1 ACC) looked more like the team that rose to the occasion during the Empire Classic than they did during back-to-back but inconsistent wins over New Mexico State and Bellarmine. They certainly didn't look like the team whose performance during a 17-point loss to the Hokies on Senior Night last season was best summed up by a frisbee-catching dog pooping on Denny Crum Court at halftime.

But they let a golden opportunity to start ACC play on the right foot slip away. Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said it without saying it in his postgame press conference by saying things like, "We had our hands full" and "(I) feel good to get out of here with the league opener."

"I admire this Louisville team," he added. "I think they've got a chance to have a nice year."

Yet it's 20 straight losses on the road for U of L, which led longer than the Hokies, 19:45 to 18:32, but could not pull off the kind of second-half comeback it needed to beat three mid-major opponents at the KFC Yum! Center during the first month of the 2023-24 season.

Payne pointed to a couple of reasons why.

Virginia Tech shot 48% (12 for 25) while outscoring Louisville 45-37 during the second half. Two players, MJ Collins and Lynn Kidd, combined for 25 of those points on 7-for-10 shooting.

And the Hokies (6-3, 1-0 ACC) beat the Cards at their own game, free-throw shooting.

U of L, which entered Sunday ranked fifth in the country with 29.1 free-throw attempts per game, committed 14 fouls across the final 20 minutes. Virginia Tech went to the line 23 times during the second half and converted 19 of those chances.

Louisville, meanwhile, attempted only 18 free throws against a team that was whistled for 25 fouls during a 74-57 loss to Auburn on Wednesday. It was only the second time all season the Cards failed to get to the line 20 times.

"That's the game," Payne said. "That's the game."

His team led 31-30 at halftime after shooting 42.9% from the field (4 for 10 from 3) during the opening 20 minutes — tying a season high set against No. 17 Texas at the Empire Classic — with assists on seven of its 12 baskets.

That's more assists than U of L had combined during the first halves against Bellarmine and New Mexico State. But a season-high 11 turnovers before the break allowed Virginia Tech to remain within striking distance. The Cards finished with 11 assists and 14 turnovers leading to 17 points for the home team.

The Hokies went on a 16-6 run between the 2:04 mark of the first half and the 16-minute mark of the second to jump in front 40-35.

“That changed the momentum of the game," Payne said. "From that point on, we were on our heels to try to catch back up."

The Cards' answer was Ty-Laur Johnson, who gave his team a 44-42 lead with 13:13 remaining when he scored the program's first 4-point play since Ryan McMahon did so Feb. 5, 2020, against Wake Forest.

Then the freshman from Brooklyn followed that up with back-to-back buckets to silence a 5-0 Virginia Tech run to put Louisville in front, 48-47 with 10:48 to go.

The lead was short-lived. The Hokies responded 38 seconds later with a layup from Robbie Beran and didn't look back.

U of L had a chance to tie trailing 69-66 with a minute and some change remaining — and with 10 seconds on the shot clock coming out of a timeout. Payne drew up a play but said it wasn't executed properly.

It resulted in a desperation heave from Johnson from deep 3-point territory after the shot clock expired.

"We drew up the play for Tre (White) to drive, for the off guard on the opposite side to hit a counter in case he couldn't get open," he said. "We froze on the opposite side, which left Tre stranded.

"It's one of those things that lead to losing basketball when you talk about attention to detail."

Louisville tied a season high with five players in double figures: Skyy Clark (16), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (14), White (10), Mike James (10) and Johnson (10).

U of L next plays at 2 p.m. Saturday against DePaul in Chicago.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville vs. Virginia Tech basketball: Kenny Payne loses ACC opener