By Dalton Ray–
In the championship of the Battle 4 Atlantis, No. 10 Louisville fell to No. 20 Baylor 66-63. The Cardinals held a 22-point lead at one point and were ahead 18 points in the second half.
This is Louisville’s first loss. Baylor remains undefeated.
Quentin Snider and Donovan Mitchell led the Cardinals. Mitchell scored 17 points and added eight rebounds. Snider scored 14 points but went 2-for-8 from the 3-point line. Deng Adel struggled from the field, contributing four points while shooting 1-for-9 from the field.
Baylor finished the game hitting six of their last eight shots. Over the final 10 minutes, the Bears outscored U of L 22-9.
Louisville started the game hot on both ends. Over the first seven minutes of play, the Cards owned a 13-4 lead. The Bears were 2-for-7 from the field and committed three turnovers.
Starting with a jumper from Snider, Louisville went on a 12-1 run over the next six minutes and extended their lead to 25-5.
Over the remaining six minutes of the first half, Baylor began to run even with the Cards. The Bears hit 6-of-8 shots and only turned the ball over once. Despite good play late from Baylor, Louisville entered halftime with a 39-24 lead.
After the first 20 minutes, Snider led all scorers with 11 points. The Cardinals held the edge in every category. U of L out-rebounded Baylor 25-13, including eight more offensive rebounds, and shot better from the field and free throw line. Both teams struggled from three. Louisville hit 2-of-10 while Baylor failed to make one on their six attempts.
Perhaps the biggest difference-maker came in the turnover department. Louisville only committed one while Baylor lost the ball six times.
The Bears didn’t take long to cut into the Louisville lead in the second half. During the first eight minutes, Baylor brought the game within single digits. Mixed with Louisville’s poor offensive production, the Bears got hot. Louisville only hit 3-of-11 shots during the first eight minutes while Baylor knocked down 6 of their 11 shots from the field.
VJ King ended Baylor’s 14-6 run with two big shots and Snider knocked in a huge three as the Cardinals bumped their lead back to 12. Trailing 54-42, the Bears didn’t give up.
Between Snider’s 3-pointer at 10:07 to the 4:08 mark, Louisville only scored one more field goal. Ripping off a huge 15-2 run, Baylor gained their first lead of the game at 57-56. Over the six-minute stretch, Louisville missed six shots and turned the ball over three times. Lazy passes hurt the Cardinals as Baylor continued their hot shooting.
What was a blowout quickly turned into a dog fight. Back-to-back steals gave Baylor easy layups. Mitchell answered with a big three as he knotted the game up at 59. Louisville forced a miss, but allowed Baylor to get the offensive rebound on the next possession. That lead to a dunk as the Bears led 61-59 with 2:48 left.
Another missed three by Snider allowed Baylor to score again as they extended their lead to 63-59 with 2:11 to play. After a pair of Mitchell free throws and a forced turnover, U of L had a chance to tie or take the lead.
With 44 seconds left, Adel had an open 3-pointer, but couldn’t knock it down. Mitchell grabbed the offensive rebound, but committed his fourth turnover of the game. The turnover showed to be very costly as Baylor went to the other end and knocked in a free throw.
With 16 seconds left, Ryan McMahon got a look at a 3-pointer but failed to convert. Jaylen Johnson’s tip-in pulled Louisville within one.
The Cardinal’s full-court heave didn’t go in and the Baylor Bears pulled out the victory.
In the second half, Baylor’s 65.4 percent shooting (17-of-26) trumped Louisville’s 33.3 percent (9-of-27). The Bears also out-rebounded Louisville by eight. Baylor’s bench out-scored Louisville’s 36-18 as Baylor won the second half 42-24. The Bears only led for 3 and a half minutes during the game. Starting with a 28-10 run during the first 15 minutes of the game, Louisville was out-scored 56-33 over the remaining 25 minutes.
Louisville hosts Purdue on Nov. 30 as apart of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Photo by Nancy Hanner / The Louisville Cardinal
