By Derek DeBurger and Elizabeth Scanland

No. 19 Louisville escaped an upset loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies.

Flying high

The Cards got out to a blazing start, going on an 11-0 run to start. The Hokies eventually got on the board with a three-pointer, but Reyne Smith matched it with a layup and a three of his own.

The teams kept pace with each other until the offense for the Cards went cold. Va Tech went on a dribbling 7-0 run over the course of almost five minutes.

Chucky Hepburn was able to put a stop on the run with a nice layup after a Smith steal.

Louisville then went on their own slow 7-0 run over three minutes to push the lead up to 29-19.

That lead held for much of the rest of the first half.

Louisville led 34-26.

Too close to the sun

Smith hit a layup about a minute into the second half to put the Cards back up by 10 points.

Va Tech’s offense loosened up a bit and they were able to keep pace with the Cards. However, Louisville was clearly the more talented and athletic team and maintained control.

In his first minutes of the second, Aboubacar Traore hit a layup in the half court and converted an and-1 a couple of possessions later to put the Cards up by 11. The Hokies couldn’t keep up with his speed to the basket.

Then Louisville began to slack off around the perimeter, giving up open looks from three.

After sinking back-to-back threes, the latter being a completely blown assignment from Traore, Pat Kelsey was forced to take a timeout.

Following the timeout, Virginia Tech picked up and-1 to cut the lead down to just two.

But Louisville came back an and-1 of their own off a James Scott dunk.

Jaydon Young then took control of the game, scoring on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 53-53. This score would hold for two-and-a-half minutes until Hepburn could break the tie.

The Hokies would tie it up again, but Hepburn broke the tie a second time. This time at the free throw line. After a crucial stop, Terrence Edwards Jr. hit a push shot in the paint to give the Cards their first two-possession lead in almost six minutes giving Louisville some much needed breathing room.

Later, Edwards hit a three to put the Cards up by seven, and after getting matched on the other end Edwards hit another three.

Louisville’s offense then went cold and Va Tech were able to cut the lead to just one point.

On the ensuing possession, Louisville got a set look for Smith from deep but he missed it. J’Vonne Hadley was able to coral the rebound and get it out to Hepburn to reset. Hepburn drove inside but missed the layup, only for Scott to get a put-back dunk to extend the lead to three.

The Hokies then had a terrible turnover to give the ball back to Louisville with only 48 second left, however, Hepburn had a bad turnover of his own to give it right back.

Va Tech called a timeout, and out of the break Kelsey had Scott at the perimeter to guard the primary ball handler. This allowed a seamless switch off of a screen, and Hadley stole the ball to seal the game.

Louisville just barely escaped 71-66.

Who has the scout?

Virtually the only thing the Hokies were good at going into Tuesday’s game was shooting and defending the three. Louisville struggled from behind the arc on both side of the court. The Cards shot 26.1% as Va Tech shot 42.3%.

The Cards also struggled on the glass, getting out-rebounded 37 to 30 and only grabbing seven offensive rebounds in the game.

What kept Louisville in the game was their efficiency inside and defensive pressure. Louisville scored 44 points in the paint off of 56.4% from two-point range and had 26 points off of 22 force turnovers.

Hepburn led in scoring with 15 points and six assists but had six of Louisville’s nine turnovers. He followed by Scott and Edwards with 13 points each.

While the blowout wins are always enjoyable, tight wins like this also matter in proving that Louisville can compete in close games, an important skill to have in March.

Louisville moves to 22-6 overall 15-2 in conference play. The Cards have also notched their sixth win in a row and their 16th win in their last 17 games. And Louisville officially clinched a double-bye in the ACC tournament.

Photo Courtesy // Chris Carter, Louisville Athletics