No. 1 Louisville basketball overwhelms Pittsburgh in second ACC win

No. 1 Louisville basketball holds their opponent to under 50 points for the second game in a row, staying undefeated with 64-46 win over Pittsburgh.

You could feel the air as it was sucked out of the crowd when Jordan Nwora was visibly in pain, grabbing his shoulder and quickly escorted to the locker room. A minute or two later, the crowd was brought back to life as Louisville basketball’s leading scorer willed his way back onto the bench, clearly still in some pain. Outside of that and a few moments where Pittsburgh drew within five, the top-ranked Cardinals had smooth sailing in the late Friday night victory.

The victory, which is Louisville’s second ACC win this season, was never really in doubt. A solid crowd packed into the KFC Yum! Center for the game and they were rewarded with plenty of highlights. The Cards never trailed, and they guaranteed that they will remain at the top spot in the rankings as they head to Madison Square Garden for the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday night.

The Panthers provided a solid test for the Cards, but Louisville ultimately once again rode its strong defensive play to a victory. Louisville raced out to a 35-21 halftime lead, as all of the players who touched the court in the first half were able to connect on a three. The Cards hit nine of their 17 three-point attempts in the first 20 minutes. They only made 4 two-point baskets in the first half.

Louisville struggled offensively in the second half, shooting 43.5 percent from the field and only hitting two three-pointers out of nine attempts. Eight players reached the scoring column for the Cardinals, and the team was once again led by star forward Jordan Nwora. The 6’8 junior scored 19 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and poked away two steals while connecting on seven of his 12 field goal attempts. He continues to increase his odds at the National Player of the Year award, although it is still early.

Ryan McMahon played the most minutes of all Cardinals with 36 and he scored 11 points to account for it. The senior guard connected on three, three-pointers and could’ve had more if not for him missing some of the shots he usually drains. He did have an errant turnover in the first half, but he cleaned it up afterward. The impressive thing about McMahon has been his defensive play, as he’s put together back-to-back phenomenal performances on that end of the court. His defense has clearly improved from last season, and that is a huge plus for team 106.

Malik Williams had a breakout game, his first of the season as he has continued to get back into rhythm after a preseason foot injury. The junior center scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while playing solid interior defense on the Pittsburgh bigs. He played more minutes than Steven Enoch, as Coach Mack preferred the hot hand. Enoch scored seven points himself and drained 50 percent of his field-goal attempts. He was being keyed in on by Pittsburgh inside, and he didn’t get the whistle on some clear foul calls.

Outside of that, the Cards had some points spread across multiple players. Samuell Williamson knocked down his first triple in a few games, and he scored five points off the bench. Dwayne Sutton, Fresh Kimble, and Darius Perry each scored three points. I’m still waiting to see whether Coach Mack makes an attempt to get Dwayne Sutton more involved in the offense. If Sutton can make an impact, the load on Jordan Nwora will become easier to manage.

Following up on a fantastic defensive performance against fourth-ranked Michigan, Louisville did not fail to disappoint defensively. The Cardinals forced Pittsburgh into a rough offensive game, as Jeff Capel’s team shot 37.7 percent from the field, 25 percent from beyond the arc, and 50 percent from the free-throw line. Before the game, I had said one of the keys to the game was not allowing Pittsburgh to get to the free-throw line at will. The Cards did a good job of that, as the Panthers only attempted six free-throws all game.

Once again, the referees officiated an interesting game, calling a few cheap ticky-tack fouls, and missing out on some others, but that’s become expected in Louisville home games. The Cards did a solid job of rebounding, as they outrebounded Pittsburgh 33-29. The Panthers outrebounded Louisville by 1 board on the offensive end, but that was one of the strengths of this team coming into the game. The Cards forced 12 turnovers by Pittsburgh, but they did get lazy with passing and made a few mistakes themselves, leading to 13 turnovers of their own.

Only two players reached double-figures for Pittsburgh, which is another testament to just how strong Louisville was on the defensive end. Xavier Johnson led the Panthers in scoring, pouring in 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting. He did turn it over five times and eventually fouled out, but Johnson hit some impressive shots in the first half that silenced a rocking Yum! Center crowd. Eric Hamilton scored 10 points on five for eight shooting for Pittsburgh, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to keep it closer than 18. The Cardinals weren’t going to be victims at the hands of another career night for Trey McGowens, as the sophomore guard went two for nine and only managed to score four points. He also turned the ball over three times.

The Cards can still improve on so many things, but they remained undefeated at 9-0 and they’re still in the early stages of what is shaping up to be a season for the ages. Louisville has another solid test on their hands next week as they continue to try to stay at the top spot in the rankings.

They’ll be heading to the Big Apple for a nationally-televised game on Tuesday night against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who just fell out of the AP Top 25. TTU is 5-3 but they are an incredibly well-coached team by Chris Beard, and they are undoubtedly going to be a solid challenge for the Cards on a neutral floor.