Instant reaction: Louisville basketball rallies late to down Pitt in OT

Louisville basketball pulled out an unlikely victory thanks to the help of some unexpected contributors on the road at Pittsburgh.

In a clash that featured two former “old school” Big East foes, Louisville basketball and the Pittsburgh Panthers found themselves in a physical slugfest in the steel city on Tuesday night.

Things are heating up in Louisville during an unusually warm January, and the Cardinals brought some heat, particularly in the second half, against a game Pitt squad.

The match-up saw a Louisville basketball team searching for some answers after letting big leads slip away in their previous three facing a Pitt basketball team hungry for a signature win.

The first half saw Louisville got out to another lackluster offensive performance.

The Cards’ defense was suffocating early on. Pitt got out to a nine-point lead fueled by some careless Louisville turnovers that lead to fast breaks.

As the half progressed, Louisville’s defense tightened up, but Pitt was fantastic in late shot-clock situations, getting a number of highly contested shots to fall.

When Louisville had the ball in its hands early, it was again tough to watch. The Cards floated around the perimeter, and regardless of who was in at guard, they struggled to get much of any penetration and often settled for outside shots.

When the Cards got the ball inside to Steven Enoch and Malik Williams, Pitt collapsed on their bigs and the offense stalled.

Still, Louisville entered halftime only down three even after being dominated in nearly every statistical category.

The second half began as ugly as the first half ended.

Both offenses looked completely out of sync as officials whistled 13 fouls in the first 7 minutes of second-half action, and 20 fouls in the first 16 minutes.

However, Louisville began to settle in with a more aggressive whistle and Cards players started finding their way into the lane more often.

Still, Louisville’s win was ugly and the Cardinals passed up opportunity after opportunity to seize momentum, take the lead, and take care of business.

Louisville forced Pitt into ugly shot attempts all night, yet they missed the front end of consecutive 1-and-1 opportunities inside five minutes to play and waited until the very last second to get the ball in the basket.

With 1:30 left to play in regulation, Fresh Kimble hit a deep three of penetration from Johnson to cut the lead to one.

On Louisville’s next possession,  Johnson went to the line with 49 seconds left, tying the game for the first time since the first half.

Louisville finished the regulation period on a 7-0 run, and then got out to a four-point lead early in overtime thanks to another lay-in by Johnson and then two free throws from Malik Williams.

Louisville pushed the lead out to five, but things did not end with drama.

People are going to talk about an atrocious missed call that would have seen Pitt draw even with Louisville, but only a few moments prior, Pitt’s Xavier Johnson “drew” an offensive foul on Kimble on a similar to play to one where he received a warning for flopping earlier in the game.

The officiating was a disaster, Louisville’s offense was ugly, the Cards didn’t lead for nearly 30 minutes of game time, but they pulled it out. And that will matter going forward.

MVP: The MVP could go to a couple of players, but I’d be remiss to not award David Johnson.

A true freshman, a Louisville native, on the road, was the best player for the Cards down the stretch.

Looking over some quick game notes, it felt like Johnson had a hand in every big play that the Cards made down the stretch.

Johnson finished the game with 11 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds, and made some massive plays getting to the basket. He only played 16 minutes, but he was absolutely one of the biggest reasons that the Cards made a run to finish off the Panthers in the end.

As Johnson’s game grows, he could become a rising star on this team.

X-factor: Dwayne Sutton. Much like last season, you could make Sutton the X-factor in nearly every game, but he felt especially clutch in this game.

Sutton was the aggressor on offense, owned the boards for the Cards, and as the game felt like it was going to slip away, he made the all-important rebounds, and he made a three-pointer in overtime that ultimately sealed the game.

13 points and 9 rebounds. Just another day at the office for Sutton.

What this means for Louisville: Well, it’s a conference victory on the road, and this victory counts just the same as a blowout of a ranked team.

Honestly, it feels like Louisville is starting to find something as far as lineups late. They made clutch plays in crunch time, other players stepped in for Jordan Nwora when he started drawing doubles late, and David Johnson and Fresh Kimble have stepped up on multiple occasions.

In his postgame presser, Mack eluded to Louisville’s late-game struggles in 2018-19, saying that the team last year would have “folded” in this type of scenario.

I tend to agree with Mack. As frustrating as this team is, they are winning games that they would have lost in the past. That’s progress, and I’ll take it.

Stat of the game: The Cards and Panthers combined for 48 free throw attempts. Barf.

What’s next: Louisville hits the road again to take on No. 2 Duke for a College Gameday match-up that will feature two teams vying for solo first place in the ACC. I guess I’ll tune in.