Louisville basketball: Cards get sweet revenge against Pittsburgh
By Jacob Lane
Louisville Cardinals. CHRISTEN CUNNINGHAM. A+. The stat line won’t pop out as anything special, but the 7 points and 5 assists CC dished out were absolutely crucial to a victory. He was great defensively helping out with McGowens, Toney, and Johnson, and he didn’t miss a beat offensively.. PG
SG. Louisville Cardinals. KHWAN FORE. A+. Without a doubt the best of the season for Khwan Fore on the offensive end. His two three’s in the first half were crucial as Louisville couldn’t get anything going. And as usual, his defense was great. If he is able to contribute 7-10 points a game, this team is only going to get better.
A. After watching that game, I really can’t believe no one from the Panthers caught hands from Dwayne Sutton. His gnat-like defense got under the skin of Pittsburgh, and they went out of the way to push, elbow, and bully Sutton. But ain’t no one ever bullying Sutton. His 9 points and 9 rebounds were great, and much needed.. SF. Louisville Cardinals. DWAYNE SUTTON
PF. Louisville Cardinals. JORDAN NWORA. B+. Nowra got out to another slow start in the first half, which I believe hurt the Cards all around but it didn’t stop him from playing good defense. The second half, we got back our typical Nwora as he went for 14 points, and finished as Louisville’s leading scorer. I think there’s a game plan out there for teams on how to take away Nwora, but Pitt wasn’t good enough to do it thankfully.
B. In the first half Williams looked lost on the defensive end and sort of reverted back to freshman Malik with his shot taking. In the second half, we got back the Malik we’re used to. He blocked 3 shots, grabbed 4 big boards, and finished with 6 points. His energy was infectious and it changed the way the rest of the team played on both ends. He’s got to continue working on his shot selection however.. PF. Louisville Cardinals. MALIK WILLIAMS
A. <p>The Enochness Monster deserved the ball a lot more in the first half, but sometimes things don’t work out that way. To dominate in the second half the way he did, speaks volume to his improvement and sticktoitiveness. Enoch finished with his second double double of the season, and he’s going to continue to get better. </p>. C. Louisville Cardinals. STEVEN ENOCH
V.J. KING. B-. VJ looked much more confident against Pitt, playing more and thinking less. The stat sheet won’t tell the full story, as he finished with just 2 points and 2 boards, but the minutes he provided were strong.. SF. Louisville Cardinals
C. Blocking a shot was good enough to get an A for Ryan McMahon, but also finished 7 points, including a DEEP three, and grabbed two boards. What hurt was the 3 turnovers. Anyone other than Pittsburgh, and you probably have to take him out.. PG. Louisville Cardinals. RYAN MCMAHON
DNP. Normally we wouldn’t give out a grade to a player who racked up a DNP-CD, but today is different. Perry had played in every game this season and was held out by Coach Mack in a game where his services could’ve been used. He is undoubtedly in the dog house with Mack.. PG. Louisville Cardinals. DARIUS PERRY
The Cards as mentioned now sit atop the ACC in first place through 7 games and like our own Presley Meyer wrote, they are quickly becoming one of the most dangerous teams in the conference. The confidence and persona that is being instilled into each and every player is one of the many reasons why Chris Mack is the lock for ACC coach of the year and a contender for National Coach of the Year. We saw that today in the second half.
Louisville will have three days off before going back out on the road after having two straight games at home, where they will face the ACC’s worst team, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. There is abosultely no reason to think the Cards won’t dominate them like they did Georgia Tech and Boston College (up until the end) but again, it’s the ACC and anything can happen.
Next. Louisville Basketball: Ville’ns View – NC State. dark
Wake Forest is currently in last place in the ACC with a 1-5 conference record, and an overall 8-10 record. That game will no doubt be a “trap game” with #11 ranked North Carolina coming to town on Saturday looking for revenge.
Until Wednesday, Go Cards!