Cards Crack Buckeyes with Defensive PressureBy Charlie Leffler

The sign of a good basketball team is one that finds a way to win when everything is going against them. And though they faced great adversity of Saturday afternoon, Louisville (6-1) was still able to hand Ohio State (6-1) its first loss of the season 66-61. In doing so, the Cardinals showed signs that they may be developing into a good basketball team.

It was an afternoon when the Cards were cold on their shots to say the least. The team shot 37.9% from the floor (22-58), 14.3% from three point range (4-28) and 52.9% from the foul line (18-34) including going 2-7 in the first half.

The Buckeyes on the other hand came into the game shooting 51% from the floor and an outstanding 41% from three point range averaging seven made threes on 17 attempts per game. But the Cardinal nutcracker defense clamped down on the Buckeyes, limiting their three point shooting to1-7 (14.3%) on the afternoon.

“It was a game of winning it in the trenches,” said Louisville head coach Rick Pitino. “It was a game of winning it on defense. On a night where our offense was not good because of their defense; on a night where we didn’t make free throws. We still were able to overcome all of that with defense…They’re a great three-point shooting team. You’ve really got to pay attention and work your tail off to hold them to one three.”

“Our guys, for a young basketball team, learned a valuable lesson,” said Pitino, “regardless of your offense, defense wins games.”

The Ohio State team was also impressed by the Cardinals defensive efforts. “This (Louisville) is a very good defensive team,” said Ohio State head coach Jim O’Brien, “we only got seven three-point attempts because they challenged us on the perimeter.”

Still the defensive effort did not keep the 19,523 in attendance in Freedom Hall from growing restless when freshman point guard Carlos Hurt fouled out with 7:09 left in the game. He joined junior guard Reece Gaines who had been sitting on the bench with four fouls of his own since the 17:10 mark. Also there was sophomore Luke Whitehead who had returned from his terrifying fall in Wednesday night’s game to start against the Buckeyes, but he was too sore to be of much effect. Still, the Cardinals were clinging to a precarious 50-43 lead despite having three-fifths of the starting lineup was out of the game.

Yet, when things looked their bleakest Pitino went to freshman Brandon Bender; a player that had not been little used and had logged only nine minutes in two games last week. Bender’s response was the best of his young career. The freshman forward/center finished the game with three assists, two blocks and 11-points in his 26-minutes of play.

Bender said he was not surprised in the confidence Pitino showed in him during the game even though he had played little prior to the contest. “I hope it surprised him,” Bender said of the coach, “not me. I didn’t know what I’d do in this type of situation. I like playing physical. Ellis likes playing physical too. That’s kind of our game. It was just my type of game today.”

But Bender was not the only image of youth leading the team. Solid performances by fellow freshmen Larry O’Bannon, Hurt and last year’s seldom used sophomore forward Simeon Naydenov proved pivotal to the win. It was the young players plus sophomore forward Ellis Myles who began the Cardinal comeback in the second half.

“If coach has that much confidence in us and leaves us in, in clutch situations, that can’t do nothing but boost your own confidence,” said O’Bannon. “If coach believes in you that means you’ve got to step up your game and believe in yourself too.”

“I just remember Larry out on the court,” said Bender, ” he said, ‘the freshmen’s going to win this game. The freshmen’s going to win this game.'” Hurt scored three points, three assists and two turnovers and O’Bannon finished with five points and no turnovers.

When Gaines left the court with his fourth foul, Naydenov was sent to replace him. 10-seconds after he stepped onto the floor, Naydenov was hit with a long pass from Myles that led to a fast break dunk and tied the game.

The Buckeyes retook the lead shortly. Yet, Louisville came right back down the floor and on back to back inside passes from Bender to Myles put the Cards up 40-37. They never trailed again.

“We have to go inside,” said Pitino, “and what they do is what we do. They trap the low post with their big men and you have to find people and Brandon kept finding Ellis. Brandon is a very good passer. We won because we went inside to out and Brandon Bender gave us that big lift with his passing.”

Even though the Cards were 4-28 from behind the arc, it was the mere threat of hitting threes that helped break down the Buckeye defense.

“They stretch you out a bit because they have guys who want to shoot threes.” O’Brien said that the deep threat opened things up underneath for the Cards. “They got two baskets underneath where they gapped our zones. We just needed to do a better job of disallowing those easy passes to the inside.”

Even though Louisville had a 59-53 lead with 2:44 left in the game they continued to shoot quick three-pointers even though they were not falling. “If you pull out and play scared, then you get fouled and you go to the line,” said Pitino. “You’re always backing up. You always have to attack offensively in this style.

“Coach has always told us that you’ve got to have a killer instinct when you get a lead,” said sophomore guard Bryant Northern. “Don’t let the team come back… That gives you more confidence because you don’t want to play timid.”

“I want my guys taking it if it’s a good shot,” said Pitino. “If we were a ninety-percent foul shooting team, let’s work it around and get fouled. But I think you can readily see that’s not our forte…An open shot is a good shot unless they foul, then for us it’s like Russian Roulette… It’s difficult to win when you miss that many free throws, but defense always wins ball games.”

Though the Cards shot a miserable 52.9% from the foul line, Pitino was not particularly upset with their production. “They’re expending so much energy to play defense that when they go to the line they’re not the freshest people in the world,” said Pitino. Yet, when it came down to crunch time Pitino returned Gaines to the game because he knew the guard was his most secure player. Gaines iced the game away but hitting 6-9 freethrows in the final 1:23.

Myles finished the game with 17-points, nine rebounds, one assist, one block, and one turnover. Gaines scored 12-points with no turnovers.

The Cards return to action on Monday night against Tennessee Tech in Freedom Hall.