By Benjamin Lampkin
Year two of the Rick Pitino Era began with a victory that by all accounts was far from exciting, but a win nonetheless. The 65-47 win starts off the Cards 1-0, and head coach Rick Pitino couldn’t be happier to be done with this particular game.
“That was a much better victory than it looked,” said Pitino. “I’m really excited about this victory.”
Air Force’s grind-it-out style of play kept the 19,741 fans in their seats for most of the evening, though that afternoon’s football game in the cold may have had a hand in subduing the normally raucous home crowds in Freedom Hall. Still, Pitino was one observer who couldn’t be happier with this win.
“As you can see with this style of play it’s not gonna be exciting basketball,” said Pitino. “I told our guys this is not gonna be our style. But every victory without Marvin Stone is a blessing.”
The first half started slowly, with Larry O’Bannon and Luke Whitehead providing the first nine points. Reece Gaines didn’t get on the board until a jumper gave the Cards a 13-7 lead with 10:55 on the clock. The extremely deliberate Air Force offense used as much of the 35-second clock as possible on its possessions, forcing the Cards to play a longer stretch of defense then they were normally used to.
“Our focus was great,” said Pitino. “Guys really got after it defensively.”
The first half numbers showed the Cards shooting a red hot 51.9% from the floor, though they managed just 27 points against the Falcons defense. Two fouls limited Gaines to only 12 first half minutes, but Whitehead and freshman Francisco Garcia chipped in nine and seven points, respectively, to lead U of L.
The Cards continued to shoot well in the second half, though their three-point shooting trailed off tremendously, hitting only 2-11 from beyond the arc. Gaines once again showed that he remains the #1 option on offense, hitting 7-12 shots for a game-high 22 points. Air Force head coach Joe Scott was understandably pleased with his team’s efforts in staying reasonably close to the Cards.
“I think if we make some foul shots it’s a single digit game,” said Scott. “For the first game I thought we played pretty well.”
Luke Whitehead had 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Ellis Myles had a game-high 16 rebounds against a small Falcons team. Joel Gerlach led Air Force with 15 points.
U of L will be in action next Saturday at the John Wooden Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Cards will play Purdue following the Duke-UCLA game, which tips off at 1:00 p.m.
