It is obvious from the final moments of Louisville’s second and final tuneup/ exhibition that the doomsayers aplenty among the Cardinal fanbase were correct.

Matters seem dire for the heralded Cards.

I mean, c’mon, U of L got within a trey of triple digits with 03:14 of action left on a Kobe Rodgers J in the paint. Yet U of L couldn’t finish the deal. A Khani Rooths slam — only two points — was all they could muster the rest of the way.

That drought over the final 02:56 needs to be cleaned up.

I swear I heard this conversation, seriously rendered, on my way to the car after U of L’s 99-76 beatdown of a well-coached but overmatched Bucknell Bison contingent.

“Cole Sherman blew that free throw that would have given the Cards 100.”

“Dude, he’s a walk on.”

“Well, he oughta walk off.”

I know it’s a too snarky way to lede into a take on Louisville’s more better bounce back from Friday night’s disappointment in their exhi opener.

Couldn’t help myself. The devil made me do it.

Anyhow, the reports of U of L’s imminent demise seem egregiously exaggerated.

But, yes, not to be duplicitous, Tuesday’s steady often impressive performance came in what was essentially a scrimmage.

 * * * * *

Apparently, U of L’s heralded sharpshooters did not lose their touch when donning Cardinal uniforms.

The U of L record for treys in a real game is 22. Against Hartford in ’07.

Against Bucknell, the Cardinals netted 23.

Which is only half the story. Literally and figuratively.

They did it while launching 46.

My abacus advises that’s 50% from Beyond the Arc.

Just sayin’.

The Cards were 8/16 from inside that delineation.

Thirty more triples were launched than twos.

Welcome to 21st C hoops.

 * * * * *

Mikel Brown Jr. was the markman for 8 of those triples. In 11 tries. Isaac McNeely made 6 of his 9. Ryan Conwell was 4/7 from the 2d Street Bridge. Khani Rooths 3/5 from long range. 7 Cardinals made at least one.

Lots of good stuff poked its head out from under the covers.

 * * * * *

But the point of these don’t count affairs is seeing what needs work.

The most glaring such aspect for Louisville is More Inside Presence.

Which is why my favorite interlude was the hint of Sanny Fru emergence starting with 11:18 to play, with a nifty plotted out slam on an assist from J’Vonne Hadley.

Followed by a Fru block, resulting in a Fru stopher (German slang for dunk) on an assist from Mikel Brown Jr.

Just a few possessions later, Fru drained a corner dreier (German slang for  three pointer).

Assist again to Brown. (The Cards rookie PG had 6 assists against a lone turnover.)

Fru only nabbed a couple rebounds, but the scoring and defense obviously energized him. After looking out of sorts Friday. Pat Kelsey obviously looked for ways to get Fru involved. Including calling that nifty inbound action after the Double Technicals.

Two noticeable flaws on exhibit against the Jayhawks were 1) Defensive foot work, and 2) Offensive flow.

Both were significantly better against the Bison. The visitors simply wore down as U of L pressed mostly full court the entire game.

Louisville had 26 assists on 31 made FGs.

Louisville was 14/18 (78%) at the line.

Wünderkind Brown led U of L with 28. His missed attempts from close in came on consecutive possessions early in the 2d, when he forced his play. He showed significant improvement.

Adrian Wooley still has a lot of adjusting to do for the increased level of competition.

That PK was using this game to experiment was most obvious midway through the 2d when Khalifa and Fru were on the court at the same time, along with Brown, Conwell and Hadley.

 * * * * *

Peripherals:

Bison pivot Amon Dörries is also from Deutschland. Appeared from some lame lipreading that he and Fru engaged pleasantries before tipoff in mother tongue.

Mo Camara is now the second recruit for 26-27. He will redshirt.

Lead official Clarence Armstrong, a Final Four vet, is an engaging guy. Chatting up the photographers during a break, who gave him grief for blocking their view. One snarky dude at the press table — guilty — told Clarence to T ’em up.

“Which one?”

“All of ’em. A group T.”

Armstrong smiled.

Speaking of improved, yours truly did not bobble his chance for the rock when it caromed out of bounds into his vice like grip. Clean catch and return without miscue.

Then again, it’s only an exhibition.

— c d kaplan