Virginia is still Virginia, and Louisville basketball still can’t finish

Louisville basketball looked good for the second year in a row against the Cavaliers. But all too familiar execution issues reared their ugly head once again, and it seems the Cards have gotten used to falling apart when it counts.

What started off as a sloppy “is either team gonna score” game quickly became… fun? When has playing Virginia ever been fun? Besides last year until .9 NOPE. That didn’t happen. We played UVA last year? In all seriousness, neither team could get the lid off the basket for the first few minutes. But Louisville basketball ole reliable, our guy Dwayne Sutton, broke it open with 2 free throws followed by back to back triples.

And the three’s kept falling. No really. The Cards were 6-23 from three in Syracuse just 3 days ago. They finished the half today 10-16. Only one 2-point field goal was made for the entire first half. A 37-27 lead after 20 minutes sure feels good. But the inevitable question for this Louisville team, especially in recent weeks was this:

Could they hold on?

No. That’s the simple answer. 2-17 from 3 in the second half and the Cards looked like that was the only shot they knew how to take. Shell shocked that the shots weren’t falling, the 10 point halftime lead disappeared quick as a hiccup.

Now I’m just gonna say it: the officiating was terrible. Especially the 5 point swing in UVA’s favor when a clear blocking foul and-1 was called a charge. Chris Mack picked himself up a technical after the fact, and from there all the momentum and confidence we thought we had vanished.

Personally I am a fan of the tech. Maybe it inspires your team; you’re playing with fire there, but Louisville had absolutely everything to gain from winning this one. A coach who stands up for his team is always a good thing in my book.

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And while the cards shot 5-22 from two point range compared to Virginia’s 24-39… Well, that’s a stat I don’t know I’ve ever seen before. Being outscored 38-4 in the paint, the fact that UVA is the 3rd ranked team in the country with a top tier defense (as always), and closing games is Louisville’s Achilles heel does not make for a winning combo.

MVP: Ryan McMahon. He had 4 of our 10 first half three’s and his confidence permeated the whole team. At least in the first half. He also handled the hedging and screens okay I guess. (I’m bitter, sue me).

LVP: Steven Enoch. Ya’ll watched the game. He missed at least 5 bunnies and was abysmal on defense. And what was with him chucking up 3’s in the second half? Just all around a bad game for him and it hurt the team while he was on the floor. Sucks to say that about big Steve, but it’s true.

X-Factor: Dwayne Sutton. The guy had the first 8 points and was taking it to DeAndre Hunter. Though his scoring fizzled out after halftime (everyone’s did), he was still fighting as he always does. Played hard on defense and had several key offensive rebounds that at least gave us more chances to score. Even though we couldn’t. Ugh.