By Cole Emery —
The No. 11 Louisville Cardinals defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies 68-52 in their final home game of the regular season March 1.
The Hokies controlled the pace early on, but neither team scored well to start the game. Only one shot was made for the first 13 attempts of the game.
Despite a poor offensive performance from junior Jordan Nwora in their previous game against Florida State, he scored 11 points in the first half which matched his total from the previous game.
The first half finished in a tie at 27.
With junior Malik Williams on the sideline in a boot, the Cardinals relied on seniors Steven Enoch, Dwayne Sutton and Nwora to control the boards. The three of them combined for 32 rebounds which amounted to more rebounds than the entire Virgina Tech team who finished with 26 for the game.
Louisville also forced 16 turnovers during the game that led to 19 points for the Cards. This strong defensive ability helped the Cards go on a 15-2 run during the second half to secure the victory. Graduate Fresh Kimble led the team on the night in steals with three.
Nwora finished the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and a steal. Freshman David Johnson played an important role off the bench with eight points, six assists, four rebounds and a steal for the game.
Enoch scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Sutton scored eight points and secured nine rebounds. Four of Sutton’s rebounds came from the offensive end.
Louisville will play their final game of the season against Virginia at the John Paul Jones Arena March 7 at 4 p.m. on ESPN.
The Cards are looking to break Virginia’s six-game winning streak which began after they lost to Louisville 80-73 at the KFC Yum! Center Feb. 8.
Photo by Anna Claire Will // The Louisville Cardinal
