Louisville basketball vs. Indiana: The good, the bad, and the ugly

After destroying Central Arkansas, Louisville basketball headed up I-65 North for a battle with Indiana. We recap the Cards devastating loss.

I had a feeling Assembly Hall would be filled and rocking for a Saturday tip against a Louisville basketball team riding high off a three game winning streak.

Around Louisville we are well acquainted with IU’s freshman phenom Romeo Langford, but in his pre-game press conference earlier in the week Coach Mack warned us about Juwan Morgan, who went off against the Cards in Indiana’s 68-67 win.

Let’s look back now on the good, the bad, and the ugly of an oh so close one point loss to the Hoosiers that will more than likely land IU in the top 25 and the Cards remaining on the outside looking in.

The good: Jordan Nwora’s record day 

It can be hard to find good in a loss but Cards sophomore Jordan Nwora recorded a career day in Bloomington on Saturday. Finishing with career highs in points (24) and rebounds (14), Nwora led the Cards in both categories against the Hoosiers but did not get much help from his teammates as the Cards turned in a pretty dismal team effort in the second half.

Nwora won the Golden Jersey award this week, given to the player that goes the hardest in practice and it carried over to the game. He did everything, and then some. Whenever Louisville needed a tough bucket, a big rebound, or a big defensive play, somehow Nwora made it happen.

Fifth year senior grad transfer Christen Cunningham also had a solid performance, especially in the second half keeping the Cardinals calm and playing their game when the Hoosiers finally took the lead late in the second half.

Cunningham played great in the ruckus Assembly Hall finishing the day with 16 points including a half court heave as time expired leaving Louisville just a point shy of overtime.

The bad: Post defense

As mentioned earlier while all the hype in Indiana is about freshman Romeo Langford, they have another NBA caliber player in Juwan Morgan, who made UL pay over and over again in the post on Saturday.

I was looking forward to the Steven Enoch Vs, Juwan Morgan post match-up heading into this one. Enoch just seemed to be playing a step slower the entire game and Louisville consistently gave up the baseline which is a huge no-no in Coach Mack’s pack line defense and it resulted in several easy baskets for IU.

Not only was Louisville giving up the baseline one a routine basis they were also jumping into passing lanes and taking chances on steals which also is not something you should be doing while playing the pack line defense. If you do not believe me then maybe you will believe Louisville legend Russ Smith.

The ugly: The second half

Credit to Indiana’s defense for pushing UL’s foot off their throat. The Cards went from 42% shooting in the first half to 35% in the second half off a combo of much better defense by IU and some not so great shot selection for Louisville.

There were a few times where it felt like the Cards could just not buy a bucket and for a team that had collected a good portion of its points in the past games this season from the free throw line, Louisville only shot 13 from the charity stripe in this game. It just feels like UL got away from it’s game in the second half and you have to credit the Hoosiers in part for that.

While Nwora and Cunningham put the team on their backs down the stretch that duo just did not get much help. Ryan “McMayn” McMahon was the only other Cardinal in double figure scoring with 11. You have to think that going forward the team will get more out of pivotal pieces like Darrius Perry 0-7, VJ King 0-1, and Malik Williams 1-5.

All in all this was a good effort for a team that was a 7 point underdog on the road in a lively Assembly Hall. A 1 point road loss to a fringe Top 25 team on the road should not alter your expectations of this Cardinals team season. I expect this to be a lesson this team learns from which will only make them sharper in February and March when it really matters.

Next up for the Cards is a 7-2 Lipscomb team that just recently put up 107 points in regulation in a pure routing of Navy. Lets back The YUM on Wednesday and get it rocking to get our Cards back to winning form. Go Cards!