By Cole Emery —

The No. 1 Cardinals defeated a talented No. 4 Michigan Wolverine squad Dec. 3  at the KFC Yum! Center. 

Offense was hard to come by at the beginning of the game. The first points were scored off a mid-range jumper by junior Darius Perry two minutes after the game started.

The Cards then capitalized on turnovers and second chance points on a more regular basis than the Wolverines. After freshman Samuell Williamson scored off an offensive rebound to put the Cards up 9-4 with 11:21 left in the half, senior Steven Enoch got another offensive rebound which eventually led to him draining a three-pointer assisted by Perry.

This surge led the Cardinals to go on 15-5 run over the next six minutes of the game. 

At the end of the first half, the score was 28-18. Junior Jordan Nwora racked up 10 points, eight rebounds and one assist. The Cardinals were able to come away with four steals as a team. Graduate Fresh Kimble pickpocketed two himself. 

The Wolverines were only able to score one basket off an assist the entire first half. This along with a 20percent shooting average for the half did not help, but they were able to keep the score relatively close to remain within striking range. 

The second half began with an 8-2 run from Michigan. After two free throws from senior Jon Teske, the Wolverines tried a full-court press on the Cardinals.

Nwora made his way through the press to get fouled by senior Jon Teske and attempt a layup, but the referee called a foul on the floor. He then received the pass to score on the out-of-bounds play for the Cards.

The next play, Nwora is blocked by Michigan junior Isaiah Livers, but he grabs the rebound off the block and immediately made a floater to take their lead to 34-26 over the Wolverines with 16:06 remaining in the game.

Towards the end of the game, abundant energy and the will of this Cardinals team made it difficult for the Wolverines to make a comeback. The Wolverine deficit remained in the double digits for all but one possession for the rest of the game which led to a final score of 58-43 in favor of the Cardinals.

File Photo // The Louisville Cardinals