By Derek DeBurger
With a win over the Coppin State Eagles, Louisville is now 2-1 on the year and 2-0 against Baltimore-based teams this season.
Unfortunately, the Eagles are the last Baltimore-based team left on the schedule.
A win against the worst
Considering Coppin State is ranked 360 out of 362 Division 1 teams by Kenpom, a 20-point victory from Louisville is actually quite concerning. Virginia Tech, a team that was picked to finish eighth in the ACC in the preseason media poll, beat Coppin State by 45 points.
Going off of the eye test Louisville wasn’t that impressive. The difference in the game is how unimpressive Coppin State looked. Louisville shot 39.3% from the field and 28.6% from three, only marginally better than Coppin States 28.1% from the field and 17.6% from three. The looks that the Eagles were getting weren’t bad; the Cards didn’t force them into tough shots. They just missed a lot of open and wide-open shots.
If you look at the comparison of the team stats there are far too many statistical categories that are nearly identical. Louisville had seven assists to 14 turnovers, three blocks, and eight steals. Coppin State had four assists to 15 turnovers, two blocks, and seven steals. The only significant difference was the rebounding margin; Louisville had 47 rebounds to Coppin State’s 34.
Wing Mike James was once again the team’s leading scorer with 12 points, three of which came from the free throw line in three attempts. James only shot one-of-four from deep, but he continues to show more consistency in his jumper and free-throw shooting. Tre White put together another good game statistically with 10 points and 12 rebounds, good enough to finish as the only double-double and the leading rebounder for the Cards.
A win is a win, so you’ve got to celebrate that, but Louisville has two tough games coming up when the Cards travel to New York for the Empire Classic. If the Cards play anything like they have in their first three games then they won’t stand a chance at making those games competitive.
File Photos // Vinny Porco, The Louisville Cardinal
