By Derek DeBurger
In an attempt to make something out of nothing, Louisville ultimately came up with nothing against the No. 12 Duke Blue Devils.
Las Vegas placed the spread at a 14.5-point victory for Duke. With the win the Cards stole in Miami, there was little chance that Duke would overlook the Cards enough to drop a game that they shouldn’t.
Louisville came out of the gate as the clear aggressors, attacking the basket and kicking the ball out once they drew in help-defenders en route to an early 8-4 lead. Duke would battle back and trade leads, slowly inching further and further away from the Cards until the lead grew to as big as 18. Louisville was able to cut the lead to 11 before they hit the locker rooms, but there was still a notable gap in talent, preparation, and oftentimes hustle.
Duke led at the half 45-34.
Louisville came out of the locker room ready to prove that the game wasn’t over yet. The Cards struck first with a three-pointer from Tre White, followed by another basket from White. After a few more made buckets and bad misses from the Blue Devils, Louisville was able to cut the lead down to just three.
After a timeout from Duke coach Jon Scheyer, the Blue Devils came out more focused and started to push their lead back out. Louisville stayed in the game for a while, but it was to no avail.
Louisville would lose 69-83.
Louisville deserves credit for staying locked in after getting down 18 points in the first half and clawing back.
The problem is that the only reason they were able to stage it is the same reason they were unable to finish it. Louisville gave wide-open looks from deep—something they had been doing all night and all season—during the entire second half and Duke just started missing them for long enough to let Louisville catch up. Once Duke quit missing, the Cards had no chance of getting the victory.
Outside of the open threes Louisville had no answer for Tyrese Proctor, allowing him to score a game-high 24 points. Whenever Proctor decided to score, he would just take whoever was guarding him off the dribble and easily got to the rim. Kyle Filipowski also put up big numbers with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists.
Louisville kept it closer than many expected but closer doesn’t do much when the program is already so far from where it should be.
The Cards fall to 6-13 on the season, 1-7 in the ACC, and 10-41 under Kenny Payne.
