Three takeaways from Louisville basketball’s victory over Virginia

The seniority on this team is strikingly similar to past champions

A theme is beginning to emerge for the Cardinals as we approach the home stretch of the regular season schedule.

Although it has been the emergence of Samuell Williamson, Fresh Kimble, and David Johnson that has put the Cards over the top recently, the upperclassmen for Louisville are the light that guides this squad.

It starts with elite-level shooting from the older guys, says Mack.

"“I’ve said it all year. I think Ryan and Jordan are elite, elite level shooters. I also think a guy like Darius when he doesn’t have the pressure of running the point at times, he’s a really good three-point shooter. I think the other guys get a little confidence from watching their teammates shoot the ball.”"

More than that, however, Louisville simply doesn’t panic when the going gets tough. It’s almost as if this team has embraced the brutal losses over the course of the last 3-4 years and come to realize that they have found every way to lose, so now it’s time to find a lot more ways to win.

Mack spoke at length about what the juniors and seniors on this team mean to him after the game.

"“They talk amongst each other in time outs and huddles. I generally meet with my coaching staff and talk about strategy, adjustments, offense, defense, what did they see, and I’ll take a main message or two back to the team. But those guys are a lot more vocal than a lot of the teams I’ve coached. They’re smart, they see things, they have enough humility to take (criticism) from a teammate, and they believe in how we play- they believe in our system. I have a lot of trust in those guys. I ask them do they wanna go zone, do they wanna stay man. That wouldn’t be the case in certain years, but it is now, because, again, I’ve got older guys, they recognize what is happening on the floor, they have a belief in one another- bottom line, it’s their team.”"

Mack completely trusts his guys and they all have complete faith in each other.

After a midseason stretch where one would be justified in questioning if the final four talk in the preseason was premature, Louisville has been able to mentally lock in and ride its veterans to one of the more impressive win streaks in the last decade.

The leadership and depth on this Louisville squad is impressive. At any given time, Dwayne Sutton, Steven Enoch, Malik Williams, Ryan McMahon, Jordan Nwora, or Fresh Kimble can step up and be exactly what the Cardinals need- and that’s a quality of seniority you are only going to be hard-pressed to find across the modern college basketball landscape.