Louisville vs Marquette Live Thread

Louisville takes on Marquette in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off

Louisville and Marquette face off on Friday night, coming off of close losses to top 5 teams.

How will the Cards bounce back? Follow along with us live!

Under 16 Timeout

Ryan McMahon made his first career start for the Cards

The other starters were your usual suspects: Enoch, Sutton, King, and Cunningham.

This is an interesting story line to watch closely, as McMahon made the start in place of Darius Perry, Louisville’s two guard who leads the nation in effective field goal percentage. Is this a corrective action from Chris Mack, or just rewarding McMahon for his fantastic play thus far.

• VJ King started off the action with a confident three in the first offensive posession
• Stephen Enoch followed that up with a three of his own
  • Enoch is proving that he is more than capable of knocking down jump shots with consistency
• Ryan McMahon picks up two quick fouls, so it looks like that experiment is over quickly

Side note: Tiger and Phil are going to extra holes. What more could you ask for on this Friday night?!

10:00

Enoch is taking advantage of a mismatch inside against Marquette. Two quick baskets out of the under 12 time out on excellent post moves led to a double team, which opened up things for a Christen Cunningham three ball. 9-0 run for the Cards.

Louisville appears to be the aggressor on offense so far, taking advantage of a size advantage against Marquette- they are doing to the Golden Eagles what Tennessee did to the Cards on Wednesday night.

Another side note: Tiger has an 8-footer to beat Phil on the 19th hole.

Under 8

• Louisville’s ball movement has been much-improved so far. They are getting open looks, and appear to be in better rhythm.
  • Mack is still really tooling with the rotations. We haven’t seen a consistent combination of line ups yet.

Marquette’s shooting is as solid as there is in the country, but Louisville is slicing through their defense like butter.

TIGER AND PHIL ARE GOING TO 20.

5:00

Akoy Agau is again doing an awesome job as Louisville’s third option at center. Not many expected that coming into the season.

Louisville leads 25-22.

Jordan Nwora might be gone after this season if he continues to improve on the defensive end. He is a pure scorer

• Tiger and Phil are playing in the dark, teeing off from the PUTTING GREEN.

VJ King continues to frustrate at times, but he seems to be on the cusp of being what we’ve expected him to become.

Khwan Fore might be the fastest player on the floor- here’s to hoping he settles in as the season goes on. The Cards need his depth and leadership.

TIGER AND PHIL GOING TO 21 (if you still care)

VJ King just took another man’s life.

Cards lead this one 35-30 going into the half.

• Still much to be desired in this performance, but they are a few bounces away from having a double digit lead as a 4.5 point underdog.

Tiger v Phil update: We are going to 22, ladies and gents! These guys can’t make a putt to save their lives, but I paid less than a dollar a hole for THIS?! Hell yeah.

Did you see that VJ Dunk, BTW?

Can’t get enough.

2nd half

Ryan McMahon provides a spark early for the Cards in the second half

• McMahon has most consistently run Louisville’s offense with aggression at the point. Darius Perry brings aggression at the point, with the clear intention of scoring first, while Christen Cunningham seems the most cautious with the ball.
  • McMahon has the ability to get into the lane under control and distribute, or enter the ball into the post.

After a lengthy discussion with among the officials, what appeared to be a flagrant 1 foul on Marquette was decided to not even be a common foul- weak sauce.

Louisville is making Steven Enoch their number one option on offense. Can’t complain about that.

16:00

• The Cards, despite out-hustling Marquette and looking like the much better team, have not been able to shake the Golden Eagles.
  • Louisville leads 41-37, and Marquette is shooting 50% from beyond the arc

14:00

After Marquette inched within two, Louisville climbs back out to a 7 point lead on a threeee from Fore, and a GREAT post move from Darius Perry.

• Louisville’s guards, on multiple occasions, have gotten into the paint and knew exactly what to do with the ball. That is an offensive piece that was rarely utilized under Rick Pitino.
  • Hoping to see more penetration from the Louisville guards.

Jordan Nwora continues to be a liability on defense, particularly when he switches onto a smaller offensive player.

12:00

• The difference in this game 28 minutes in? Louisville is winning off of second-chance points. Many pointed out that Marquette just looked soft against Indiana and Kansas. That trend is continuing against a much more physical Cards squad.
  • Louisville leads by 8, 49-41
  • Cards outrebounding Marquette 29-21

Marquette’s Marcus Howard was a non-factor in the first half due to Louisville’s great defensive game plan.

• Howard is killing it in the second half so far, with two tough twos and a highly contested three. Dude is just a stud.

10:00

• This game is excellent preparation for what is to come for Louisville. They are unlikely to face a team that can shoot the rock like Marquette. Nevertheless, they are locking the Eagles down on defense; Marquette is just making some extremely tough shots.

Somehow, Marquette is still hanging tough. Cards are up by 4…

…. But Louisville should be up by 5. Jordan Nwora hit a clear three point shot that was ruled a two.

6:30

Marquette’s defense has gotten much stingier. Now, after a few great set pieces by Marquette, the Golden Eagles lead by 2 (should be 1)

• Would be a crushing blow if Marquette went on to win this one. 55-53, bad guys.
• Marquette has made this very much a half court game, which should finish under 70 points for the first time this season

4:30

• Akoy Agau! What more can you say? Akoy gets an and-1 on offense and then SCREAMS at Ryan McMahon for messing up on defense.
• Cards lead by 3.

3:44

• This one is going to go down to the wire, folks. The Cards continue to excel on the offensive end when they need it the most- something we Cards fans are not used to.
  • BTW, did you know Jordan Nwora played on the Nigerian National team?

Same coach, Cards should have this one in hand.

Christen Cunningham with the HUGE scoop shot around his defender in the lane.

• Cards up 62-59 after a pair of Marquette free throws.

Louisville is doing a great job in the second half of pushing Marquette’s three point shooters out much deeper from the basket. They are forcing them to go away from their best players if they want to score.

Cards 64-59 with 2:05 to play.

1:17 to go. Akoy Agau with the HUGE block after the Louisville offense stalls.

• Chris Mack leaves in Akoy Agau, Christen Cunningham, and Ryan McMahon in the waning minutes.

:45 

• DWAYNE SUTTON! Christen Cunningham draws an extra defender and finds Sutton in the corner for the three.

OVERTIME

In the worst possible scenario, Louisville was awarded one less point than they should have in regulation, forcing overtime.

Louisville had three wide open shots on their last possession, and were unable to convert.

• This game has a feel of a Marquette win at this point.

Louisville scored more points. Louisville lost. There’s your summary.