Louisville basketball had quite the week, and dropped back in the rankings after splitting with Clemson and Duke.
Louisville basketball looked like they were headed towards being the team of the week through the first 34 minutes of their matchup with the #2 ranked Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday night, until a 23 point lead vanished in a matter of minutes. Now after splitting the week, the Cards have dropped from #16 in the AP polls to #18.
During his press conference on Friday, previewing the upcoming Clemson game, Chris Mack didn’t mix up his words. While his team dropped arguably the biggest game of the season, a game in which they had every advantage until they didn’t, Mack made it clear this wasn’t it for his squad.
“What Duke had showed on tape all year we dismantled for 34 minutes, so it was tough to swallow. Everything they showed on tape we had an answer for. What they didn’t show on tape I didn’t have an answer for, said Chris Mack.
There were legitimate questions about how Louisville would be able to bounce back mentally in just four days against an unranked, but challenging Clemson team. After losing leads in two straight games (Florida State and Duke) the team needed a win, and they needed it bad. While two losses wouldn’t define the season by any means, especially if you look back at some of the Xavier teams that lost 11 games or 14 games on their way to the Sweet 16 & Elite 8, but mentally the Cards needed to be reminded of what a win felt like.
"“Down the stretch, again, we have to figure out ways to close games better. I told our team, mental errors and physical errors cannot be tolerated in winning time. It’s the first time our guys have ever been in positions where they are closing games. What I mean by that, is they’re on the floor, they’re in the moment, they’re closing the game. We had against Florida State and Duke, maybe two of the toughest locker rooms that I’ve been in during a regular season. I’m sure to a certain extent, those ghosts were probably in our guys’ minds a little bit.”"
Those ghosts unfortunately reared their ugly heads in the KFC Yum! Center for almost the entire 40 minutes on Saturday. While there were a few positives to take away, the negatives were glaring. Louisville scored just 19 points in the first half, played with little energy, and struggled to do much of anything that showed you just a few days earlier that they were capable of beating anyone in the country.
But in the second half, they finally got it going. Senior point guard Christen Cunningham took the games into his own hands, literally willing his team to the lead. After being asleep at the wheel for the first 30 minutes of the game, Louisville took control of the game and it didn’t seem they’d look back. Until the proverbial ghosts crept in.
Up eight points with :34 seconds to go they collapsed under pressure – a theme that looked like it wasn’t going away. The final 30 seconds would go like this:
:26 – Jordan Nwora turnover (49-55)
:21 – Shelton Mitchell missed jumper, Steven Enoch rebound
:17 – Steven Enoch missed free throw (49-55)
:17 – Steven Enoch made free throw (49-56)
:09 – Marcquise Reed made 3 pointer (52-56)
:07 – Dwayne Sutton turnover
:03 – Marcquise Reed made 3 pointer (55-56)
:02 – Jordan Nwora turnover
:01 – Jordan Nwora block
:0.09 – John Newman III missed field goal
Louisville found a way to win, but it came after a 7 point melt down that was saved by possibly the defensive play of the season. With 3 seconds left all UofL had to do was get the ball in bounds and it was over. But what came next nearly sent 17,000+ Cardinal fans into a Virginia, deja vu induced heart attack. So many things went wrong – Sutton and CC both were fouled, no one was open, the list goes on and on. Nwora threw an in bounds pass in and it ended up in the hands of Marcquise Reed, the floater went up, and Jordan Nwora made the game saving block (take that anonymous coach) which bounced to John Newman III who missed a wide open put back. The game was over, we were on the winning side.
https://twitter.com/lavontezspanyer/status/1096988084393205760
“Obviously, we could’ve finished better, we could’ve closed better, but it’s a lot better feeling today than it was Tuesday,, Christen Cunningham said to the media after Louisville’s win that almost wasn’t.
Now sitting at #18 in the AP poll, 9-4 in the ACC, and a legitimate chance at earning the #4 seed and a double bye in the ACC Tournament, the Cards have the chance to move on from the week of meltdowns and prepare for the run their capable of.
What’s it going to take?
“Down the stretch again, we have to figure out ways to close games better. I told our team mental errors and physical errors cannot be tolerated in winning time,” Chris Mack said in his press conference after the game.
“Take care of the ball, get to the open spots in the press, and play with the toughness that has been present all season long, even in trials and tribulations,” Chris Mack said in his post game press conference. Something that seems so easy, but has been a common recurrence in the past few weeks.
Now it’s time to move on. Let the ghosts go, and prepare for the next day of battle.
Tough. Together. Unbreakable. It’s how they started the season, and I believe 100% it’s how this team (Team 105) will close the year.
Go Cards!