By Harry Barsan

Louisville lost in embarrassing fashion to the Creighton Bluejays in the opening game of the NCAA tournament.

Long shots

Six straight misses started the game before Chucky Hepburn scored the game’s first field goal, quickly outdoing himself with a three-pointer to take the lead for the Cards.

But the jitters wouldn’t last for long, as the Bluejays started attacking the basket. Once they were able to suck in the defense, they kicked it out to a wide-open Steven Ashworth for three to bring the score to 7-11.

After Aboubacar Traore drew within two and the Cards grabbed a loose board, Reyne Smith hit a corner three to give the Cards back the lead. Thus started an exchange of baskets where both teams traded the lead.

Each heat check was matched with hotter buckets before a turnover from James Scott ended the madness.

From that point on, though, the Cards struggled. Creighton hit bucket after bucket, including hitting seven straight threes on a seismic 24-6 run.

This was a direct result of Louisville’s fear of Ryan Kalkbrenner. Every time he would get the ball in the post, the Cards would double team him but fail to rotate in a meaningful way leaving good shooters beyond the arc with nobody near them.

All the while, Louisville missed seven straight before Hepburn sank one to end the half as he reached 18 points, accounting for over half of Louisville’s total score.

Louisville trailed 34-49.

Salt in the wound

After going 2-of-9 in the first, Terrence Edwards Jr. finally found his groove and scored eight points by the 12 minute mark.

Yet the struggles from the first carried over. Louisville continued to struggle from the field all the while Creighton put run after run after run.

To make matters worse, Smith re-injured his ankle on a shot attempt in which no one touched him. He immediately hit the floor, and Louisville’s margin for error grew that much smaller.

It seemed like the basketball gods had it out for Louisville this half especially. There were several times in the second where Creighton used all, if not nearly all of the shot clock, finally chucking one up at the last second and sinking it.

In spite of all this, Louisville started to trim the deficit. They cut the lead to 12, and got a rebound. But before the Cards could get out and running the referees blew a whistle for a loose ball rebounding foul on Louisville in which there was minimal contact.

Pat Kelsey was unhappy with the call, and as the game remained tight at 12 points Kelsey continued to chirp the ref’s ear off about it.

This lead to the ref hearing enough and calling Kelsey for a technical foul, much to dismay of the crowd. One fan even threw food and drink onto the court, accomplishing nothing but delaying the inevitable.

After the game returned, no matter what Louisville did Creighton had an answer for it.

It only took until about the two-minute mark for the foul-game to start. After a depressing yet optimistic sequence in which the Cards drew within ten, Creighton found wide-open looks on the inbound, cementing their lead.

After enough garbage time, the Cards held off from fouling and let the clock drain out.

Louisville lost 75-89, ending their magical season.

Bitter-sweet

Louisville fell behind late in the first half, and their poorer shooting was only enough to keep them hanging around. 70 total shots were taken compared to Creighton’s 56, yet their efficiency dipped far worse.

Louisville couldn’t catch a bone either, as Creighton’s seeming incapability to foul paired with some questionable calls from the referees throughout gave Creighton 21 free throws compared to Louisville’s eight.

Hepburn and Edwards each picked up 20-plus points, with Hepburn leading the team with 22. Both players struggled from the field, though, shooting a combined 18-of-45 from the field. That mark alone is only serviceable, however when the rest of the team can’t get much going, it simply won’t be enough.

Hadley had the most efficient night, going ⅝ from the field and picking up 13 while finding 8 boards as well.

Louisville had the right game plan defensively, but the execution was all but non-existent. The rotations were embarrassingly poor, with Ashworth getting left open a number of times in the first half while Creighton built their lead.

Even after Louisville adjusted, Jamiya Neal came out the woodwork. He scored well above his season average with 29 points, and he torched the Louisville defense in the second half.

Louisville will end their season at 27-8. After a miserable past two years of Louisville basketball, The Cards have plenty to be proud with how good this team looked in year one of the ReviVille. There will be plenty to look forward to next season.

Photo by Vinny Porco