By Derek DeBurger
No. 18 Louisville outlasts the Boston College Eagles in a defensive chess match.
Despite sloppy play and tough defense, points weren’t too hard to come by initially. Both teams were mucking up the paint but were able to find shooters beyond the arc to splash in some three-pointers. After getting to a 12-10 lead, Louisville was able to stretch that to seven points with an almost five-minute scoring drought by Boston College. At the end of the first quarter, Louisville led 18-13.
In the second quarter, Boston College stepped up its defense by switching to a zone to stop easy buckets inside the three-point arc and sprinting to close out on potential three-point shooters. Coupled with a steady increase in their inside presence, the Eagles cut the lead down to just one point multiple times in the second. Louisville, however, was able to make adjustments on both ends to break the zone and find players on the inside for close looks, forcing the Eagles into another scoring drought of over three minutes to push the lead to 10. Boston College was able to finally take the lid off the basket, but Louisville’s offense didn’t let up.
At halftime, the Cards led 39-31.
The third quarter proved that the referees made a clear and concerted effort to call more fouls. Louisville was able to make the proper adjustments and get to the free throw line frequently, at one point even scoring five straight points off of free throws from Kiki Jefferson. Jefferson had a monster third quarter, scoring 11 points and helping the Cards stretch their lead to 17.
The Cards continued to extend the lead to an ever-insurmountable margin by the time the fourth quarter began.
Louisville would win 88-60.
Jefferson had a fantastic game, scoring a game-high 27 points and team-highs of seven rebounds and four assists. Seven other players also scored five-plus points and 10 of the 11 players that recorded minutes scored at least once.
As a team, the Cards shot a staggering 57.1% from the field and 50% from three. The team also did a fantastic job rebounding and holding onto the ball, grabbing 38 rebounds to Boston College’s 28 and only committing 15 turnovers. Fifteen turnovers may seem like a lot, but since the Eagles normally force over 22 turnovers a game that’s a solid performance.
This was a big win that helped Louisville advance to 17-3 on the season and 6-1 in the ACC.
Photo Courtesy // Caleb Jones, U of L Athletics
