By Harry Barsan

Louisville basketball endured its third loss in four games Tuesday night against the Virginia Cavaliers. They fell to a 12-5 record.

Muddy battle

Virginia is a defense-heavy team, and their bread and butter is slow and annoying attrition with well-below average pace of play.

Slow and annoying is exactly how this game felt through the first break. The Cavaliers nailed five shots, four from deep, to reach an early 14-0 lead.

Efforts from Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely got the Cards right, giving Louisville their first two threes of the game.

While the Cardinal offense squandered many possessions early, they gave a better effort in the half’s final ten minutes. McKneely impressed all with a nearly 35-footer, but UVA continued to hold their own on offense.

The Cards shortened the gap, cutting a 13-point lead all the way down to five within the span of five minutes. Ryan Conwell play a key role in this effort.  He scored the final four points to end the half.

Louisville entered halftime down just 33-28.

Losing footing

Virginia put on the pressure early, nailing a three in the first minute and expanding their lead to a dozen.

Thomas Malik, who usually doesn’t make more than a couple per game, drained four straight threes for the Cavaliers. Meanwhile, the Cards continued to lose out on possession after possession.

After this early surge was over, the Cards caught their breath. They equalized nearly every effort the Cavaliers gave with one of their own.

J’Vonne Hadley set the tempo with two big and-1 opportunities, only missing the first free throw.

Virginia’s constant deep threat along with their proficient defense continued to be a challenge. Malik’s sixth three made the lead 12 again.

The game picked up with some real excitement down the stretch, as there were nearly 20 points scored in just about two minutes of game time.

Isaac McKneely found a three after a steal recovered by Hadley, and a few scores from Hadley and Adrian Wooley meant the lead was only six.

Each blow the Cavaliers gave, the Cards returned right back. But for as great of an effort they could give, Louisville couldn’t match Virginia down the stretch. They eventually lost the free-throw game in the final minutes.

The Cardinals were defeated 79-70.

Proof is in the pudding

The Cards needed everything they could get out of their guys in the second half, but what they gave just wasn’t enough.

Louisville shot an uninspiring 10-38 from deep, while the Cavaliers made 14 of their 34. One could only imagine how much of this game would have changed if only a few shots had gone the other way.

The Cardinal defense looked stellar down low. They allowed just a dozen points in the paint, forcing looks outside of the perimeter and beyond the arc.

The only issue was that these shots were landing. UVA made over 40% of their deep balls, marking the third time this Louisville defense has allowed as high a rate.

The Cards found their groove the longer this game went on, and if there were maybe another half dozen minutes, this Cardinal crew likely would have managed a victory. However, the Cards dug their own grave by having too many mistakes early in the game.

Isaac McKneely recorded his team-leading fifth 5-three game this year, leading the team with 23 points as well.

Ryan Conwell struggled mightily tonight, much like he did against Stanford, shooting 5-21 including 2-9 on 2-pointers.

The Cardinals will travel to take on 7-9 Pitt Saturday evening. They go on the road looking to get to .500 in ACC play.

Louisville is now 12-5 and 2-3 in conference play.

Feature Photo by Vinny Porco / The Louisville Cardinal