By Dalton Ray–

One week after beating rival Kentucky, men’s basketball fell to Virginia 61-53. Louisville is 11-2 and 0-1 in the ACC.

 

The Cards failed to get a player in double-digit scoring. Quentin Snider, Tony Hicks and Deng Adel shot 9-for-17 from the field as the leading scorers for Louisville, each with eight points.

Louisville was out-rebounded 31-26. Louisville only hit 2-of-14 3-pointers and went 13-of-22 on free throws.

Slow start 

The Cavaliers are a nightmare match-up for the Cards, with U of L only winning once since joining the ACC. With a slow-paced offense and stingy defense, coach Tony Bennett has created the formula to defeating coach Rick Pitino.

During the first eight minutes, the Cavs jumped to a 16-6 lead. The Cardinals started 3-for-10 from the field while Virginia started 6-for-9. U of L’s tight defense didn’t phase UVA players as the Cavs knocked down four contested jump shots.

One-dimensional scoring

Through the first 20 minutes, U of L scored 21 points,14 from guards. Jaylen Johnson, Mangok Mathiang and Ray Spalding were held scoreless during the half.

The Cavaliers ended the half on a 8-0 run and a 36-21 lead. UVA ended the half shooting 50 percent, dished out seven assists and hit 8-of-9 free throws.

Louisville ended the half on a two-minute scoring drought, which included four turnovers. Hitting under 40 percent from the field, U of L only made one 3-pointer and had no assists.

Playing into UVA’s hands

Virginia’s pack-line defense forces teams to shoot over the top and creates difficulty when driving to the lane. This forces teams to hit open and easy shots, not turn the ball over and make free throws. Louisville failed to do all three.

Finishing strong

Over the final 11 minutes of the game, Louisville began playing at a much higher level. Louisville cooked up a 15-3 run, cutting UVA’s 19-point lead nine. UVA went 1-for-9 from the field during the stretch while Louisville shot 5-of-7.

Louisville’s comeback hopes ended at the 2:02 mark. Anas Mahmoud’s lay-in rimmed-out, which would have cut the lead to seven. On the opposite end, U of L allowed a crucial offensive rebound that led to a UVA basket. The score pushed the lead back to 11 as time ticked under two minutes.

Post-game comments from Pitino

“Well, Virginia seems to be our kryptonite. We just don’t play well against them. It takes two skills to play well against Virginia. It takes really good passing, and we were very careless, and it takes very good shooting. We didn’t have either tonight,” Pitino said. “We had no assists at halftime and guys shooting air balls, guys passing up open shots to ball fake and take a challenged shot. It has become evident that guys are listening outside the walls of our locker room about their games. You’ve got to give (Virginia) credit. They played us well.”

Photo by Isaac Sanchez / The Louisville Cardinal