By Harrison Plank

Despite still missing all-star Freshman Mikel Brown Jr., the Louisville Cardinals survive the University of South Florida Bulls, winning their first NCAA Tournament game since the 2016-17 season.

We’re in the madness

J’vonne Hadley nailed a three to start the match, and an emphatic Sananda Fru slam tied it all up at seven apiece early in the contest. 

Both teams continued to rain down threes, with almost all of them knocking off the iron instead of actually going in. Isaac McKneeley, Adrian Wooley and Khani Rooths ended this cold streak for the Cards, though. They buried deep triples that pushed Louisville ahead 17-19.

Even Ali Khalifa got in on this three-point madness, sinking one for himself that set the Cards ahead by 11. The Bulls tried to keep up from beyond the arc, but Louisville’s expertise was too much to follow. 

USF had to get some energy going if they wanted to remain competitive in this game. Izaiyah Nelson slammed three straight dunks during a 6-0 scoring run that single-handedly clawed them back within eight while shocking the Bulls back to life.

Louisville continued to inch ever ahead, though. A tough finish at the rim by J’vonne Hadley looked to give the Cards an 11-point lead before the half, USF responded with an and-one finish of their own that kept them in the fight.

A few scoring possessions were passed for both teams, but many of the remaining scoring for the half came from the free throw line. Louisville led at halftime 37-27.

Both teams were evenly matched out of the break. After a few buckets were traded back and forth, Sananda Fru finished on a put-back layup. His finesse around the rim kick-started a Louisville run that would carry them until the clock hit zero.

With Mikel Brown Jr. out, guards Ryan Conwell and Isaac McNeeley stepped up massively. Conwell got shifty to nail a three and Mcneeley laced a fadeaway of his own to put the Cards ahead by 20. Mckneeley continued to have the hot hand, splashing another long range shot that gave Louisville their largest lead of the game and forced USF to regroup.

Regroup they did, closing the gap late in the game and cutting a massive Cardinal lead down to just four before the end of the game.

Despite this push, Louisville kept them at bay. Multiple defensive rebounds, made free throws and control of the clock allowed the Cardinals to walk away with a more narrow victory than initially intended.

Louisville won 83-79.

Sweet Sweet Victory

Coach Pat Kelsey comes away from this game with his first ever March Madness win. Prior to this matchup, he was 0-5 in tournament games, redeeming himself after a tough first round exit against Creighton last season.

The Cards won this game by doing what they do best: hitting their threes. Despite shooting less overall long range shots than the Bulls, Louisville ended with a staggering 52% three pointer accuracy.

USF did not keep pace. They finished with a 15.2% accuracy from beyond the arc. While trailing, they showed an over reliance on a three point shot that was just not there.

Isaac Mckneeley spearheaded Louisville’s long range charge, making seven of his 10 attempts en route to a 23 point game. He ended the match as the Cardinals leading scorer.

Louisville lost the turnover battle horribly with 22 to South Florida’s nine. If the Cards want to stay competitive deeper into this tournament, this is a key problem that they will have to fix.

The Cardinals move on to the round of 32 where they will face the winner of Michigan State and North Dakota State.

Louisville survives and advances.