Louisville basketball dodges loss to Pitt with late run

Chuckling to the bank

After Louisville won the tip-off, Chucky Hepburn drew first blood with a drawn foul and two free throws.

However, the game would get and remain fairly sloppy for both sides.

The two teams would go somewhat back-and-forth with every shot seeming to come off of a busted possession or via a turnover.

Louisville held firm control of the game throughout the first half, but couldn’t create any separation. A handful of lazy passes leading to turnovers certainly didn’t help the Cards.

After Pitt took the lead off of a three-pointer from Guillermo Diaz Graham, Hepburn shouldered the entirety of the offensive load. He hit threes on four straight possessions, and then hit back-to-back just a few possessions later to reach a new career-high in made threes in a game.

Despite Hepburn’s Olympian performance, the lead was only 10 points, and after back-to-back layups from Jaland Lowe the lead shrunk to six.

The Cards went into the break only leading 39-33.

Cardiac Cards

Terrence Edwards Jr. struck quickly out of halftime with a layup, but Pitt would not go away.

The Panthers then went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to just one point, and one possession later had to chance to take the lead on a potential four-point play.

The Panthers missed that free throw, but Zack Austin would give them their first lead of the half on a put-back. A two-minute scoring drought for Louisville saw Pitt get to the line two more times, but only shoot 2-of-4 to bring the score to 47-50.

Edwards finally broke the drought with a layup which started a 7-0 run that was capped off by a Reyne Smith three.

Louisville would hold this lead for a bit, but an 8-0 run would give Pitt a three-point lead. During the Pitt run, Louisville got the sloppiest they had been all game, just giving up the ball with careless passes.

After one final bad turnover by Edwards, Lowe would drive in for a layup but Smith of all people rejected the shot. The Cards would then put together a great fast break that James Scott would end with a dunk and his first points of the game.

Pat Kelsey called a timeout to get Hepburn back into the game, and immediately good things started happening. Smith drew a foul that gave the ball back to the Cards, and Hepburn drew a foul to put Louisville back on top 63-62.

The veteran guard continued to make plays as he found a wide-open Scott for another dunk. Hepburn added a free throw and a layup, and just like that a 9-0 run over four minutes extended Louisville’s lead to six.

Pitt started to get some offense going, but the cat was out of the bag at that point and Louisville just kept scoring.

Assisted by some bad fouls from Pitt and a breakaway dunk from J’Vonne Hadley, The Cards put the game out of reach.

Louisville pulled away for a 79-68 victory.

Finding ways

Turnovers kept Pitt in the game, plain and simple.

Louisville coughed up the ball 12 times, leading to 10 easy points for the Panthers. During the stretches where Louisville held onto the ball, they dominated the Panthers.

The Cards also struggled on the offensive glass, pulling down just three offensive rebounds to Pitt’s 12.

Where Louisville thrived was behind the arc and with the stellar play of Hepburn. The team hit 52.4% from three with Hepburn not missing a single shot from deep.

The Omaha-native scored a career-high 37 points and had four assists, four rebounds and two steals to go with it.

Edwards quietly added 23 points and seven boards, and Noah Waterman scored his 1,00th career point on his only made shot of the game.

The win moves Louisville to 23-6 overall and 16-2 in conference play. It marks their seventh straight win and 17th victory in their last 18 games.

Louisville also sets a new program record for the most ACC wins in a single season and ties the 2008-09 team for the most conference wins ever.

Photo Courtesy // Mallory Peak, Louisville Athletics