By Dalton Ray–
In their second straight road game, the men’s basketball team held off Georgia Tech for the 65-50 win, the first conference win this season.
The Cardinals were led by Donovan Mitchell, scoring 20 points, four assists, three rebounds and three blocks. This is the third game in a row that Mitchell has led U of L in scoring, averaging 21.6 points over that stretch. The Cards are now 1-2 in conference play after losing to Virginia and Notre Dame.
Behind Mitchell, Quentin Snider added a season-high seven assists and 12 points. Anas Mahmoud shot 5-for-6 from the field, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks.
Georgia Tech’s Ben Lammers had a career day, nearly leading the Yellowjackets to the upset in front of the home crowd. The junior pitched in 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Josh Okogie scored 15 points and seven rebounds.
The Cardinals started off extremely hot, going 6-for-12 from the field and making four of their first six 3-pointers. Great ball movement allowed U of L to grab an early 16-3 lead five minutes into the game.
The hot five-minute span was followed by a seven-minute scoring drought. At third media timeout, Louisville led 17-9. Mahmoud ended the drought at the 7:20 mark.
Late in the first half, a scary moment happened for Deng Adel. After hitting the deck on the offensive end, Adel was kneed in the head by a Georgia Tech player heading up the court.
Adel stayed on the floor as the ball advanced up court until the refs stopped play. Needing assistance to exit the court, Adel didn’t return due to a concussion.
At the half, Louisville led 27-18 with Mitchell scoring seven points and Adel adding six. Shooting 6-for-12 during the first five minutes, the Cardinals ended the half shooting 4-of-18 from the field. The Yellowjackets only made 5-of-20 during the first half.
A back-and-forth start to the second half, Louisville started to pull away after the first media timeout. With 12 minutes to play, Louisville led 41-26, but another scoring drought loomed for the Cardinals.
GT went on a 10-0 run and over a five-minute frame, their 16-5 run brought the Louisville lead to 46-42. U of L would answer with a run of their own, started by a three from Mitchell.
Over the final seven minutes, Louisville closed out the road win with a 19-8 run.
VJ King stepped in for the injured Adel and while he was aggressive on the offensive end, he wasn’t very efficient. King shot 1-for-7 from the field in Adel’s absence.
Louisville now has a three-game home stretch ahead of them, starting with Pittsburgh on Jan. 11 at 7 p.m.
