By Justin Phelps
The University of Louisville men’s basketball team took care of business Saturday night by defeating the Murray State Racers in the championship game of the Jim Thorpe Classic.
Despite the fact that U of L was playing without starting point guard Carlos Hurt because of a violation of team rules, they had an impressive performance. Small forward Luke Whitehead and shooting guard Reece Gaines carried the Cards.
U of L began the game with a 10-0 lead and never looked back. During the first half the Cards found the open man and scored a lot of easy baskets. The Cards managed to get 11-assists in the first half. Forward Ellis Myles added another dimension to his game by dishing out 4 assists in the first half. The Cards were led offensively by Gaines and Whitehead who combined for 28 of the 37 first half points. The Cards went into the locker room with an 18-point lead and the score 37-19.
The Cards were successful during the first half because of their defensive intensity. They were deflecting the ball, denying the pass, and diving for the loose balls. “I’ve been coaching for 25 or 26 years,” said Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, “and I would place that into my top-10 intensity and defensive efforts for any half I’ve ever coached. That was a marvelous performance by our players. The threshold of intensity was like none I’ve seen for a long time. I’m very proud of that effort.” Cardinals limited Murray State to only 19 points and 23 percent shooting during the first half of play.
The Cards came out just as hot in the second half. Whitehead scored three quick baskets and Gaines bombed a 3-pointer to start an 11-4 run and extend the Cards lead early.
Murray State responded with a 16-2 run of their own with guard Justin Burdine scoring most of those points. U of L took a timeout at the 10:30 mark leading 55-43.
The Cards quickly responded when Whitehead got a nice pass from freshman Larry O’Bannon for the dunk. On the next trip down the floor, Gaines hit his sixth 3-pointer of the games. From that point on U of L took control and Murray State ran gas and was defeated by a final score of 84-69.
The Cards played a great game as a team committing 16 turnovers compared to 21 assists. Whitehead finished with a career-high 30 points shooting 12-16 from the field.
“I am really happy for Luke (Whitehead)” Gaines said of his teammate. “He has been hustling and getting better everyday.” Gaines was named MVP of the Jim Thorpe Classic after he finished the game with 28 points against Murray State.
“It’s fun to play well but it’s more important that we won,” Gaines said after earning the MVP award. “My focus is just on winning, it’s not about points or anything else.”The win improves the Cards record to 4-1 and they are off to their best start since the 1996-1997 season.
Their next opponent will be Coppin State at 7:30 on Wednesday at Freedom Hall.
