By Luke Graham —
Louisville basketball put their perfect season on the line against the national championship runner up Texas Tech at the Jimmy V Classic Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden. They lost 70-57.
This loss is an important loss to the Cardinals (9-1, 2-0) early on in their season. This allows them to humble themselves without getting overconfident. With a tough schedule ahead in December and January, the team should be able to power through with a chip on their shoulder.
The first half was pretty shaky for the Cards as Texas Tech (6-3, 0-0) was the better team in the first half and Louisville had just three field goals.
Senior Steven Enoch had a nice first half, but was not being fed the amount underneath the basket early. Once the Cards started getting the ball into the paint senior Ryan McMahon nailed a three to cut the deficit.
Enoch would finish the first half with five rebounds and had 10 points going four of five shooting and junior Jordan Nwora had five points.
Louisville started the second half slow, but Texas Tech got in foul trouble and had some key players on the bench at the 10 minute mark.
Louisville started to trap late in the second half, but the traps would not be enough and Texas Tech would counter.
Nwora finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
This year, college basketball is wide open, and Louisville had their turn in the top spot for now. It is possible they could find themselves there again but for now it is on to the next team.
It bears mentioning how impressive this team has been during the Chris Mack era. This team did not make the tournament two years ago, had a first round loss last year and held the top spot in the country this year.
Louisville looks to bounce back at noon on Dec. 14 against Eastern Kentucky University on the ACC Network. The game will be at the KFC Yum! Center.
File Photo // The Louisville Cardinal
