By Randy Whetstone Jr. —
The first half was a Michael “Spike” Albrecht and Luke Hancock 3-point shootout. Michigan was up by as many as 12 points. After the national player of the year Trey Burke went to the bench due to foul trouble, the freshman for the Wolverines stepped up.
Albrecht hit four of the team’s six 3-point shots. He scored 17 of the team’s 38 points. The Cards were in desperate need of a spurt on offense. Twelve seems to be the magic number for Louisville to turn on the switch.
After the largest deficit in the first half, it was Luke Hancock again for the Cardinals making his presence known. He scored 14 points in a 2:33 span. He hit four straight 3-point shots, and Montrezl Harrell topped it off for the Cards after receiving the alley-oop slam from Siva to give Louisville their first lead of the game 37-36. In thirteen minutes, Hancock went perfect from the field, 4-4 and scored a team high 16 points.
The two teams finished the half with Michigan leading by one point at 38-37.
