Louisville basketball: Cards get sweet revenge against Pittsburgh

Louisville basketball wanted revenge against a Pittsburgh team who was the last to knock them off. That’s exactly what they got behind big games from Jordan Nwora, Christen Cunningham, and Steven Enoch.

Louisville basketball would be 6-0 in ACC play if it weren’t for an overtime loss to an up-an-coming Pittsburgh Panthers team, led by new head coach and former Duke assistant, Jeff Capel. Since that loss the Cards have gone 4-0 with wins over two top 25 teams and suddenly the outlook of the season has changed.

Coming off of just a one day turnaround, Louisville had the chance to enact revenge on Pittsburgh and freshman sensations Trey McGowens and Xavier Johnson. Things got off to a very slow for Louisville, as the team looked a bit lackadaisical and lost on both the offensive and defensive ends.

For the second straight game, the crowd at the KFC Yum! Center got Louisville into the game and Louisville jumped out a 7 point lead after a slow start. But behind two three’s from Pittsburgh’s Jared Wilson-Frame the Panthers quickly jumped back into it.

Louisville was looking for someone to get things going offensively, and surprisingly that guy was graduate transfer Khwan Fore. After hitting just seven threes all season, Fore hit two big three’s in the first half and honestly at times looked like the only Cardinal who came to play. Also, Ryan McMahon blocked another shot, so that’s worth mentioning.

Pittsburgh brought out a physical full-court press that really seemed to bother Louisville, and was a huge reason they started just 9/25 from the field in the first half.

Louisville’s struggles offensively and defensively were a theme throughout the first half, while Pittsburgh continued to do a lot of the same things they did during their first win against the Cards. The Cards were extremely lazy with the ball, turning the ball over 11 times to Pittsburgh’s 4 in the first half, while shooting just 37%, and went into the locker room’s down 33-29.

Chris Mack couldn’t have had many nice things to say to his team at halftime after their slow performance in the first half. Whatever he said was enough to light a huge spark in his team as they absolutely dominated the Panthers throughout the second half.

Louisville held the Panthers to just six points through the first 10 minutes of the game, after giving up 33 points in the first half. It was a complete team effort, and of course the ruckus crowd at the Yum! Center helped.

Louisville held the Panthers to just 18 total second half points, while forcing 13 turnovers and only turning the ball over themselves 4 times. The most impressive stat to me personally was holding Trey McGowens to just 7 points in the game, after giving him 33 (a career high) a few weeks back.

The moment the game changed for Louisville was midway through the half when CC threw Jordan Nwora, who had just begun to heat up, a no look alley-oop that could easily go down as the dunk of the season.

After that the Cards completely took over on their way to a 15 point victory. Jordan Nwora led the Cards 17 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Steven Enoch, who was quiet in the first half, was absolutely dominant in the second, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds, his second double-double of the season.

Shoutout to the Villens and our guy Ethan Sprowles. They continue to be impressive each and every game and I won’t hear otherwise. They got a lovely shoutout from a new Louisville football coach, which I am here for.

You have to give kudos to Pittsburgh, as much as it hurts to say that, as their physicality and toughness in the first half really hurt Louisville. The Cards struggled with the press, which as mentioned forced 10 first half turnovers, but it wasn’t enough to get the sweep.

Louisville now has put together a five game winning streak, which has put them atop of the ACC standings almost half way through conference play. The second half was a great example of what this team can do when pushed up against a wall.

MVP: Christen Cunningham was amazing in this game. His ability to dictate pace and get his teammates good looks was crucial to keeping the Cards in the game during the first half. He is now leading the ACC in assists, and it shows when you watch him play. We’ve said it here before, but I’ll say it again, CC is team 105’s MVP and they go as he goes. Sucks we only get one season.

LVP: I’m not sure if it was apart of the game plan for Jeff Capel coming into this one, but the way his team flopped was absolutely embarrassing. Led by Xavier Jonson and Trey McGowens, the team continued to put a performance worthy of an Oscar through both halves, which surprisingly didn’t lead to a technical for Chris Mack and the Cards. The Panthers are a “soft” team, even though they did play a physical first half, and if it wasn’t for the refs I’m not sure they get out to a lead at any point in the game.

X-Factor: Jordan Nwora’s scoring in the second half really brought the best out of everyone. It was CC who led the way with pace, and Dwayne Sutton defensively who shut down Trey McGowens, but Nwora knocking down shots changed the way Pittsburgh played and it opened up the floor for everyone else.