By Derek DeBurger
Louisville now sits alone at last place in the ACC with Saturday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers.
From the beginning of the game, Louisville had little to no answer for Pitt’s physicality. The Panthers made a concerted effort to deny Brandon Huntley-Hatfield the ball in the paint, and Louisville never schemed around it. Forced to play more on the perimeter, the Cards were stagnant most of the game until late into a shot clock and ended with 18 team turnovers.
To head coach Kenny Payne’s credit, Lousiville employed a lot of different (yet unsuccessful) looks on defense. After Pitt started the game shooting four-of-nine from three-point range, the Cards entered a two-three zone—a notoriously terrible defense when it comes to leaving open corner threes. This zone, however, didn’t hurt the Cards too much as Pitt went one-of-eight after their hot start.
The Panther’s cold stretch from deep kept the game within reach. Pittsburgh led 40-34 at the half.
In the second half, Louisville ran a one-three-one zone for a handful of possessions. The problem with this zone was that Skyy Clark was the one left guarding the rim, and once the “trap” of the zone was broken the paint was open for an easy bucket.
The rest of the second half was Pitt just slowly seizing control of the game until it was all but over. At one point, the lead grew as high as 19.
Louisville would lose 70-83.
Payne is trying to improve this team via his coaching, but the details tend to be overlooked for nearly everything leading the players to look like they’re not making an effort; the reality is they don’t know what they need to be doing.
Louisville shot 51.1% from the field and 47.6% from three, and still found a way to lose by 13. The biggest reason is because of turnovers, and an issue that looked like it had been fixed from last year until Saturday.
One of the bright spots of the game is that with only seven scholarship players available, multiple players stepped up their game. Mike James shot the lights out, going eight-for-12 on his way to 23 points. Freshmen Kaleb Glenn and Curtis Williams both contributed double-digit points, with Glenn hauling in an additional seven rebounds.
Unfortunately, great player performances are usually for nothing as the Cards continue to find ways to lose.
Louisville is now 5-9 on the year, 0-3 in the ACC, and 9-37 under Kenny Payne.
