By Catherine LaRoche–

The Louisville Cardinals traveled to the desert on Saturday to play the Grand Canyon University Lopes in Phoenix, Arizona.  Deng Adel lead the Cardinals with 15 points in the 79-70 win.

The Cardinals were off to a slow start in the opening minutes, causing Louisville head coach Rick Pitino to call two quick timeouts and switching out the line-up.

The Grand Canyon record-breaking crowd of 7,493 made it difficult for Louisville to make a run, but gave GCU the boost they needed to stay with U of L. Both teams exchanged baskets throughout the first half.

“This in college basketball, in my 40-plus years was the toughest crowd I’ve ever faced,” said Pitino. Pitino went on to joke about losing his job if Louisville would have lost to Grand Canyon and recognized the talented and special Grand Canyon team.

In the final seconds of the half, GCU guard DeWayne Russell hit a 3-pointer before the buzzer to give the Lopes the 37-36 lead going into the locker room at half-time. Junior forward Matz Stockman lead the Cardinals with 10 points in the first half.  Russell had 18 of GCU’s 36 at the half.

“We got a tremendous lift from Matz Stockman,” said Pitino. “I would call plays for him. I never thought in my coaching career that would happen. And it did and he executed it beautifully.”

In the second half, the Cardinals and Lopes played a close one tying the game and exchanging leads until Louisville made a run midway through the half. Despite Russell’s career-high 42 points, Louisville was able to hold off the Lopes and leave the desert with a win, improving the Cards record to 7-1 on the season.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a guard performance like that against our defense,” Pitino said about GCU’s Russell. “It was very impressive. We knew he was going to score points. We were trying to wear him out. But he did everything. He’s a great player.”

Louisville shot 54.8 percent in the second half, shooting 47.5 percent for the game. Adel lead the team in total points with 15 to end the game. Forward VJ King and guard David Levitch each scored 14 points to help Louisville pull away with the win.

“VJ King gave us a big lift. And David Levitch gave us a big lift in his minutes,” said Pitino. “It had to come from guys who rarely play for us to get this victory.”

Pitino explained the importance of the win and discussed future match-ups with Grand Canyon.

“We got more out of this game than any other game we played this season because we had to play tough to win this game,” Pitino said. “I have so much respect for [GCU Head Coach] Dan [Majerle]. We’ll do it again sometime. It was great for us too. If you lose, it’s not great. For us to overcome this crowd, overcome the best guard performance I’ve seen in the last 10 years. It was very impressive.”

Louisville is back in action against Southern Illinois on Wednesday at 7 PM in the KFC Yum! Center.

Catherine LaRoche is former Louisville Cardinal Sports Editor and U of L Alumnae, Class of 2009.  She is currently an Assistant Director for University Housing at Arizona State University. 

Photo by Laurel Slaughter / The Louisville Cardinal