By Glypie Grider
The month of February has been a difficult stretch for the University of Louisville men’s basketball team in recent years, and head coach Rick Pitino said this year is no exception.
“February is going to be hell for us,” he said following Louisville’s eight-point victory over South Florida on Saturday.
Saturday’s USF win wasn’t a blowout, but it was enough to boost Pitino’s morale. “We needed a win because our confidence was a little shaken after the Memphis game. Francisco [Garcia] had a deep thigh bruise and had to play through it, but we’re happy with the victory.” Garcia was seen limping off the floor at different points throughout the game.
The Cards pulled out a 65-57 victory over USF in front of 19,829 fans, but the point spread was always tight. The game was tied at four different points with three lead changes.
“The worst thing that has happened to us over the past few years – and believe it or not, I’ve tried not to let it happen – but it’s those 40- and 50-point blowouts,” Pitino said. “It actually hurts a team because it’s fool’s gold in so many ways because you have easy shots and then a team gets in your face and the shots don’t come easy. Tonight was a good lesson and it’s good to learn your lesson and still come away with a victory.”
Senior Ellis Myles led the way for the Cardinals offensively with 15 points. Junior Taquan Dean and senior Ellis Myles followed with 13 apiece, while Garcia rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12. USF’s Terrence Leather led all scorers with 18.
Myles had four assists in the game and pulled down five rebounds. Three USF players tied for the game-high seven rebounds.
The Cards, now 21-4 overall and 9-2 in Conference USA play, had a slow offensive start and only connected on 9 of 27 shots in the first half. USF shot 45.5 percent from the field. By the end of the game, Louisville had improved to 37 percent, but the South Florida Bulls finished with 39.2 percent.
“We didn’t run our offense very well tonight, but when we did at the end of the game, we got wide open shots with player movement and ball movement,” Pitino said in Saturday’s post-game press conference.
That player and ball movement wasn’t present in Louisville’s 17-point loss to the Memphis last Wednesday in Freedom Hall. Louisville lost to conference rival Memphis 85-68, the Cards’ biggest loss of the season and Louisville’s worst home loss in four years under Pitino. Dean and Myles each scored 17 points for Louisville against Memphis, but the Cards were out-rebounded 41-30 and shot a season-low 33 percent (19 of 58).
“Memphis deserves all the credit,” Pitino said. “They outplayed us at every position tonight. They are a very talented team; they are probably the most talented team that we faced this season.”
Pitino named the lack of defense as one of the weakest aspects of the game. “We have to get back to playing great defense. We haven’t two games in a row and I knew it was coming, I just didn’t think it would be this bad. We’ve been relying on making shots and then a night comes like tonight and its not there. We have to get back to basics defensively. Everything that could go wrong went wrong.”
Earlier this month, Louisville topped the Cincinnati Bearcats by seven (77-70) and the UAB Blazers by four (77-73).
“We’re still in the championship hunt, although it’s not going to be an easy road for us,” Pitino admitted. The Cards have five more conference games before the conference tournament in March.
“We’re always going to have difficult times in February, so, unless you see this building [Freedom Hall] fall down, it’s always going to be tough in February,” Pitino said.
The Cards are slated to take on Marquette in Wisconsin on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. Louisville will return to Freedom Hall on Sunday to take on Saint Louis at 5 p.m.
