Apr 10, 2013; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Peyton Siva (3) gestures to the crowd at the KFC YUM! Center during their celebration for winning the NCAA Men
Top Eight Victories of my Cardinal Basketball Life
On a slow February day with bad weather about to move in, I started to think about the best victories I have seen as a cardinal fan over the years. Of course many on my list were from the recent championship run, because that was just AWESOME and created great memories. Below is a list of the top eight with a little something that stuck out about that victory. We would like your input as to the best games in Louisville history since 1986? Let’s hear your opinions in the comments section Card Fans!!!
1.
2013 National Title Game
The fact that I am 28 years old means that I was just 1 the last time that the Cardinals won a championship, so you can see how the 86 championship might be hard to remember. I vowed to name my first born son Luke after that performance against Michigan.
2.
2013 Elite Eight Match up against Duke
For obvious reasons this game sticks fresh in the memory of many Cardinal fans, there was the tragic injury of Kevin Ware and the greatest moment in sports when you can see through tragedy the compassion that great teams have for each other. Never remember seeing such a touching moment in sports.
3.
2001 victory over Tennessee
Just when we thought that all hope was gone and that the game was about over, Reece Gains and Bryant Northern take over and hit a barrage of threes to win the game with minimal time on the clock. Significance of the game was unimportant but it reminded me of Reggie Miller killing the Knicks with that type of barrage of shots with just seconds on the clock.
4.
2011 Miracle on Main
One of the greatest come backs in Cardinal History, after being down by 19 the cardinals and their tough senior leader Preston Knowles fought back and won the game at the buzzer against The Marquette Golden Eagles. This had to be one of the least talented but hard-nosed teams in the Pitino Era. Just when everyone thought Preston Knowles was going to take the shot he found a wide open Kyle Kuric under the basket for a layup to win the game.
5.
2005 Louisville vs. Memphis Conference USA tournament championship
The year that Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean led Louisville team made a trip to the final four, on the way there was a conference championship game against the hated rival Memphis tigers. Louisville had a made a foul late in the game to send Darius Washington Jr. to the free line, Washington Jr. went to the line as confident as anyone ever could and with the Tigers down hit the first free throw, that left Memphis down by 1 point with 2 free throws left. Washington Jr. looked at coach Calipari and signaled that the game was over as he prepared for his next two free throws, But clanged off the rim and the Cardinals escaped with a great victory. The lasting memory was Garcia trying to help Washington up off of the floor and consoling him after the big misses.
6.
2005 Louisville vs. West Virginia in NCAA tournament
I don’t know if I have ever witnessed a team shoot the ball as well as West Virginia and Kevin Pittsnogle did the first half of the game. These guys could not miss and we all started to think that our season might be coming to an end. After halftime Pitino scrapped playing zone and went to man defense. The result was a great comeback and Louisville punching their ticket to the final four for the first time I could remember in my short lifetime.
7.
2013 Big East Championship against Syracuse
This is the last true Big East Championship to be played in Madison Square Gardens, Louisville had played great in the conference tournament until they ran into a red hot Syracuse team. Louisville had looked uninterested and unable to do anything correct for most of the game, then Montrezl Harrell comes into the game and brings an enthusiastic attitude and effort that was so contagious that helped turn a 16 point deficit to an 18 point win. One of the greatest swings that I can remember watching a team have.
8.
1997 Louisville vs. Texas NCAA tournament
Dejuan Wheat is by far my favorite Cardinal Player to ever suite up for the Cardinals, he was during the game that could lead Louisville the Elite 8. With the Cardinals down 54-59 the Cardinals were able to go on a 29-9 run with players such as Damian Dantzler to beat the Texas Longhorns and advance to the Elite 8.