By Dalton Ray–
Earning their 1,800th win in program history, eighth-ranked men’s basketball (22-5, 10-4) survived a hot shooting night from the visiting Virginia Tech Hokies (18-8, 6-3), winning 94-90. Tech shot 59 percent from the field and hit 17-of-26 from three.
Louisville isn’t known to out-shoot teams, but coach Rick Pitino said he’ll take the win any way he can get it.
“We’ve rarely in the past four years won with offense. Tonight we did,” Pitino said. “We’re 22-5 and we’re going to step into North Carolina and play for first place. To me, that is an amazing feat by the young men in that locker room.”
Sophomore Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and grabbed five rebounds for U of L. Junior Quentin Snider finished with 19 points and four assists. With a strong second half, junior Jaylen Johnson added 16 points and hauled in eight boards.
Mitchell started out on fire, scoring 13 of Louisville’s first 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting. Leading 18-16, the Cards went on the miss nine of the next 11 shots.
Sophomore Jay Henderson and redshirt freshman Ryan McMahon provided a spark for Louisville, helping build the lead to 29-20. Getting contribution from seemingly everyone, seven different Cardinals in the first 15 minutes.
U of L’s defense prevented the Cards from extending their lead as late rotations gave Virginia Tech open looks. The Hokies were unconscious from the field, making nine straight shots to take a 41-39 with under two minutes in the half.
At the break, VT held a 44-43 lead while shooting 9-of-14 from three. Snider and Mitchell combined for 27 of Louisville’s 43 points.
Trading blows in the open minutes of the second half, McMahon gave Louisville the first advantage with back-to-back threes. The Cards began to separate, pushing their lead to nine, and Tech stormed right back.
Virginia Tech’s Seth Allen conducted a 9-2 run, draining three straight 3-pointers. Moments later, Allen made another pair of threes, making the score 72-70 midway through the half.
In the final 10 minutes, Johnson started to show his presence by grabbing rebounds, finishing near the rim and stout on-ball defense. His one-handed alley-oop slam from sophomore Deng Adel ignited the crowd and pushed the Louisville lead to seven with 3:24 to play.
Free throws down the stretch sealed the win for the Cardinals. U of L travels to North Carolina to take on the Tar Heels on Feb. 22.
Photo by Laurel Slaughter / The Louisville Cardinal
