By Harry Barsan

Louisville defeated the Virginia Cavaliers 70-50 picking up their third conference win of the year.

The win is the Cards’ first in Charlottesville since 1990, and the first ever in John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cards are now riding a four-game win streak, their second of the year.

Trust in Traore

Scoring didn’t come easy in the first half. Louisville held the lead for most of the time, but Virginia kept responding to tie the game and once even take the lead.

The two were tied 11-11 by the second television timeout, but a Cardinals surge out of the break led to an 18-11 advantage for Louisville.

Ironically, the Cavaliers quickly slowed the pace down, tying it up at 20-20 with just over four minutes to spare.

However, the Cards exploded yet again with another seven-point outburst including the team’s first three-pointer in over 12 minutes of play.

A few slow possessions later, Aboubacar Traore hit a miraculous three off of an equally amazing feed from James Scott.

The Cards went into the half ahead 32-27.

Smooth sailing

The second half started similar to the first: Louisville would slowly put together a small lead, and then Virginia would close the gap.

Despite a few misses early, the Cards found a rhythm as Traore showed up big. He scored quick on back-to-back possessions off of assists from Chucky Hepburn to put the cards up 45-37 before a Virginia timeout.

It was all Cardinals from then. They continued to put together the runs they did in the first, but held the Cavs offense at bay.

Drive after drive, Virginia bled out their own clock thanks to an obnoxious Louisville defense.

The Cardinals continued to push the needle as Reyne Smith knocked down back-to-back threes before dishing another one off to Hadley to make it 60-47.

To put a button on it all, with all the benched emptied onto the court, Khani Rooths had a monster slam to put the Cards up 20.

Louisville won 70-50.

The Hoos off our backs

Louisville tonight was composed as they’ve been all year.

They shot very well, kept the Virginia offense quiet. Most importantly, the Cards found their groove down the stretch to shut Virginia down late. Louisville ended the game on an 18-5 run and held the Cavs scoreless for the final 2:29 of the game.

Louisville also collected 14 key offensive rebounds, yielding 10 second chance points. In a matchup that only resulted in 60 possessions, the offensive boards were vital toward keeping on the attack and wearing out the pesky Virginia defense.

When the world needed him most, Smith shined, putting up 15 points on a very efficient 5-of-10 from deep.

Traore came up huge this game with 15 points as well, coming up just two rebounds short of a double-double. He did all of this in only 16 minutes.

Hepburn dished out seven assists compared to only one turnover, adding to his 10 points.

Pat Kelsey becomes the first Louisville coach since Peck Hickman to defeat Virginia in his first try. It’s safe to say the Kelsey-era is in full force.

Louisville is now 10-5 on the season and 3-1 in the ACC.

The Cardinals are set to host the 11-3 Clemson Tigers in yet another huge conference matchup.

Photo Courtesy // Mallory Peak, Louisville Athletics